43-year-old Ismael “Mike” Naranjo tried to rob the cash register at Bud’s Broiler’s in mid-town New Orleans. He was caught on camera appearing to hold a gun or some sort of weapon inside of his hoodie pocket and demanding the cash out of the register. Employees reportedly sensed that Naranjo wasn’t a seasoned criminal and sprung into action, beating him and his truck (parked outside) to the point that when police finally apprehended Mike he was treated for lacerations. The entire altercation was pulled from the security camera and uploaded for the world to see, so let this be a lesson to anyone dumb enough to consider robbing a cash register:
The man identified by police as Naranjo walked in the restaurant, 500 City Park Ave., shortly before 11 p.m. He waited behind two customers, the video shows, and then flipped up the hood of what looks to be a Saints sweatshirt, and approached the counter.
The video appears to show Naranjo holding some sort of object in his right sweatshirt pocket, but a gun is never seen in the video. One of the employees grabbed the telephone and retreated into the office, while Naranjo moved behind the counter to empty the register.
Both employees then team up to attack Naranjo, the video shows. They chased him outside and into his white pickup truck, with one emptying a flowerpot and slamming it against the passenger window.
The video shows one of the employees grabbing money out of the cash register as they chase Naranjo. The restaurant’s general manager, Melvin Ziegler, said the employee grabbed the rest of the large bills out of the register so no other customers could take it as the two employees chased Naranjo.
Frankly I’m shocked that nobody got shot. This is New Orleans we’re talking about here, everyone in the entire city carries a gun. Most people carry two guns. The fact that there wasn’t a single visible gun in the video is the most astonishing thing of all. For more on this story you can follow that link above and click on over to NOLA.com.