EVERETT, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Two brothers in Everett found themselves in a fight with a would-be thief during a robbery last week.
It started as a normal Tuesday at McCormick's Liquor Store. John Pietrantonio was in his office when he heard someone come in.
"I look out of my office and there is a gentleman with a ski mask on and a hood wielding a knife."
John says the masked man screamed, "This is a robbery!" and demanded the cash in the register.
"I came out, opened the drawer, started handing him the money. My brother came up from the back of the store, grabbed a bottle, and clubbed him over the head with it," said John.
That's when John says he and his brother struggled with the robber, pinning him down until the police arrived.
Surveillance video caught the ordeal on tape, and according to a Everett Police Facebook post, they took 23-year-old Brian Butler into custody.
The homeless man is be lived to be responsible for a string of convenience store robberies in the city.
John said he's glad he was able to help catch Butler, but he doesn't recommend taking on a robber. The only reason he did, he said, was that he feared for his brother's safety.
"I just wanted my brother to stay in the back, just in case. You never know what could happen if the robber hurt him," John said. "Could have turned around and stabbed him. He told me to turn around and get on the floor. I did that and then I heard a thump and when I picked up my head, my brother was struggling with the robber. So I jumped the counter and we just took him to the ground."
John says the store has been in his family for about 30 years, and says it has only been robbed one or two times before this.
Meanwhile, Butler is currently charged with three counts of armed robbery with a mask.
Cox Media Group
