Clerk, customer tackle would-be robber in Modesto

An AM/PM clerk tackled a would-be robber Thanksgiving night when he noticed the item the suspect was threatening him with was not gun, but a plastic bottle.

The suspect entered the AM/PM at McHenry Avenue and Rumble Road just before 10 p.m. Thursday and demanded the clerk give him all of the cigarettes, said Modesto Police Sgt. Mark Phillips.

The suspect had an item under his shirt that appeared to be a gun but the clerk soon saw that it was a plastic bottle.

"Then he decides he is not going to be robbed today and tackles the suspect and is assisted by a customer,” Phillips said. “(They) take him to the ground and hold him there until police arrive."

Carlos Alberto Meza, 26, was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery, burglary and public intoxication.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Clerk, customer tackle would-be robber in Modesto."