An armed man demanded money from an Irvine-based Donut Star location’s customer with a gun, and the latter went after the former as he exited the store. A video of the incident was originally posted on Reddit, but it is now available on Ring’s Neighbors site. For your information, Neighbors is an app-based feature from Ring that alerts people to crimes near their location.
One was purchasing donuts at the store when the other took out a handgun from behind. The perpetrator was wearing a black-colored jacket, sunglasses and a camouflage hat at the time. Then, the customer chased the suspect who snatched $100 away from him. Amazingly, the victim chased the suspect down, had a physical struggle with him and then grabbed his gun.
Later, the Irvine Police Department’s Karie Davies offered the latest information about the victim’s condition.
The person was at the store to purchase the sweetened dough products for friends who often play golf with him, Davies told Irvine Weekly. The part where he handed over that amount is not visible in the video published on that website. The reason why he chased the gunman has to do with an adrenaline rush. The chase ended at the nearby Chevron fuel station.
More remarkably, the victim regarded the suspect’s weapon as an airsoft gun. It is unlikely for one to kill a person with that type of gun, but it could cause minor harm.
Davies said that the suspect apprehended for robbery is Kenneth Smith, an Irvine resident aged 47 years. She also said that the Donut Star Irvine customer was fortunate to come out of the incident in an uninjured state. She noted the incident serves as a reminder of the real danger that exists out there. She did not forget to warn us of its negative consequences.
After the customer chased the armed man out of the store, he changed his clothes and stuck around the nearby area. Soon, officers spotted him, which led to his detainment.
Davies said that the customer responded to the robbery because he wished to get his $100 back. Police do not recommend putting ourselves in danger in such situations. We, human beings have the so-called acute stress response, causing an adrenaline rush to deal with such incidents. In this case, the instinct of the victim led to the reaction, said Davies while expressing relief at the fact that he was not severely injured.
