Small Business Clerk Denies Robbery Suspect Money

DENVER (CBS4) - DENVER (CBS4) - A small business clerk in Denver has been credited with helping police arrest a robbery suspect.

A gun-wielding robbery suspect hit a car, plowed over a stop sign and flipped the SUV he was driving early Sunday afternoon after a police pursuit in Southwest Denver.

The incident ended with police arresting the suspect just before 1 p.m. a few blocks away from the crash scene.

Three different businesses were robbed right before the crash. They were a record store, Rita's Records, at 3606 Morrison Road, a game store called Level 7 at 2385 West Alameda and a Bradley gas station on West Alameda.

Chris Ward said the suspect had robbed Level 7 where he works last Monday and attempted to rob it again on Sunday. Ward said he refused to give the suspect the $10 that was in his register on Sunday.

"He came over to the PS-3 stuff and asked us a few questions and then demanded for us to open the register and for us to give him all the money," Ward said. "I told him 'no' because I didn't think it was right for him to try to steal from us. He proceeded to ask, I told him I thought it was messed up he was trying to rob a small business."

At that point Ward says he chased the suspect out of the store and down the street.

Denver police said an officer spotted the suspect's vehicle and began chasing after it. The SUV then crashed into another car at the intersection of West Florida Avenue and South Osceola Street. After that the SUV apparently hit the stop sign and then rolled over.

Police say the suspect got out of the SUV and ran away but was arrested nearby, in the 1500 block of Osceola.

A CBS4 crew at the scene captured an image of the SUV lying on its side in the front yard of a home. The stop sign was sticking out of the front windshield or roof of the SUV.

The person whose car was hit was hospitalized but didn't appear to have life-threatening injuries.

So far it's not clear how much was stolen from the businesses.

The name of the suspect has not been released.