TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - An attack against a pregnant woman during an attempted robbery was caught on camera in central Toledo Wednesday.
The attack happened at the Sunoco gas station on Bancroft and Ashland around 4 p.m.
Desiree Hunt, the pregnant clerk, was holding the cash drawer when a man, now identified as Nathaniel Maddox Junior, leaned over the counter and tried to grab it from her.
The video shows Hunt close the drawer and turn to protect her stomach.
"Being pregnant, I was worried about my baby, I just turned around trying to protect my belly," said Hunt.
The attacker then jumped the counter and continued to try to get the money.
Two other employees, including Angel Gonzales, helped fend off the would-be thief.
During the struggle, Gonzales grabbed a fire extinguisher and beat the man in the back with it.
"I wasn't thinking, I saw the fire extinguisher there and I just grabbed it. We got him down on the ground and I just started hitting him with the fire extinguisher," said Gonzales.
The man eventually got away and is still on the run.
Employees are just happy to have their co-worker safe.
"I was scared, but I was just thinking of her being pregnant and didn't want anything to happen to the baby," said Gonzales.
"I was lucky. I'm glad I had my co-workers here with me, because it could have turned out really bad," said Hunt.
"Anybody who does that type of thing is considered a dangerous person," said Lt. Joe Heffernan of the Toledo Police Department.
But should the clerks have turned to vigilantism to subdue and attempt to capture the guy?
"If they're just after property, our advice is to give them the property they're after and we'll take it from there. Get as good a description as you can. If they're trying to hurt you, that's a different story. You got to do anything to protect yourself," said Heffernan.
Police say the suspect is now identified as Nathaniel Maddox Junior. He is in his mid to late thirties and was wearing a gray hoodie and black pants.
