A brave young girl was filmed beating an armed robber with a baseball bat as she tried to defend her father, a liquor store manager.
The unidentified eight-year-old girl immediately sprang into action and grabbed the aluminum bat at Big Discount Liquors in Maplewood, Minnesota, while her father was behind the counter.
She was seen punching the suspect – who has since been identified as Conchobhar Morrell, 37, of St. Paul – as her father wrestled him to the ground.
“I’m so proud of her, she’s so strong,” said the girl’s father, Leo, told CBS Newsand added that he only realized his daughter was trying to help him when he saw the surveillance footage.
‘When I saw the video, I didn’t expect her to do that. I expected[ed] a little girl crying and screaming.
A young girl was caught on surveillance footage beating a robber with a baseball bat in her father’s liquor store
The girl’s father, Leo, said he was “proud” of his little girl as he showed off the aluminum bat she used
He said he was preparing to close the store around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday when Morrell walked in and walked through the store.
He grabbed a bottle of liquor and brought it to the cash register, according to the Star Tribune.
Morrell was then caught on surveillance footage wearing an Amazon uniform and placing a realistic-looking BB gun on the counter in his pocket.
‘He [Morrell] “I put the gun on the table, he asked me to give him all the money and everything in the register,” Leo said. “I told him, ‘Yes – I’ll give you everything.'”
He said he had tried to talk to the suspected armed robber and that he could have all the money in the register as long as his daughter, who was behind the counter with him, was safe.
“I tried to talk to him and said, ‘I have my daughter here. Can you put the gun down and keep it away from her? I will give you everything, take everything.’
“It’s not about the money for me, I just want her safety,” Leo explained.
But Morrell instead grabbed the gun and walked behind the counter with the weapon in his hand.
The suspect – Conchobhar Morrell, 37, of St. Paul – was captured on surveillance video reaching into his pocket and pulling out a realistic-looking BB gun
Although Leo said he tried to talk to the armed robber and offered him all the money, Morrell walked behind the counter with the gun in his hand
Leo immediately tried to fight him off, hitting the man and wrestling him to the ground.
“I’m a father, I’m not going to let that happen,” he explained.
But seconds later, his daughter was seen on surveillance footage with a bat in her hand.
She punched the suspect, who was still on the ground, several times before running away.
Leo was eventually able to grab the gun from Morrell, who fled the scene without any money or weapon, the Star Tribune reported.
Police spotted him shortly afterward with a scratch under his eye and blood on his lips as he walked a few hundred yards north of the store.
Morrell is now charged with attempted first-degree aggravated robbery and is being held in jail pending a $40,000 bail before his court appearance on Friday
According to police, Morrell initially resisted arrest but eventually surrendered to police.
However, he denied being in the shop and said he was only in the area to visit a nearby tobacco shop.
Morrell also claimed that his facial injuries were the result of a fight two days earlier and that the wounds had reopened.
An Amazon spokesperson said Morrell was a delivery driver for a third-party delivery service that delivered packages for Amazon.
He will be “immediately dismissed,” the spokesperson said.
Morrell is now charged with attempted aggravated robbery in the first degree and is being held on $40,000 bail ahead of his court appearance on Friday.
He was previously convicted of aggravated robbery in Minnesota in 2004.
