One for the good guys..

[Brenden]

Customer who police say shot Plantation robbers a "Clint Eastwood-type," friend says

By Andrew Tran
Sun-Sentinel.com
Posted June 28 2007, 12:48 PM EDT

PLANTATION -- One gunman is dead and another is in critical condition after they tried to rob a sandwich store and were shot by an armed customer Wednesday night, authorities said.

Donicio Arrindell, 22, of North Lauderdale, and Fredrick Gadson, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, entered a Subway restaurant at 1949 N. Pine Island Rd. and demanded money at gunpoint about 11:17 p.m., said Detective Robert Rettig, a police spokesman.
They then attempted to rob the lone customer, John Lovell, 71, of Plantation, by forcing him into the restroom, but Lovell, who was legally armed, pulled his gun and fired, police said.

Arrindell collapsed at the scene, while a police K9 unit found Gadson hiding in a hedge in front of a nearby bank at the Jacaranda Square shopping center, officials said.

Both men were taken to Broward General Medical Center, where Arrindell died.

Gadson was in critical but stable condition on Thursday, investigators said.

Police said Lovell appeared to have shot in self-defense.

A man who said he was a friend of Lovell's described him as a "quiet Clint Eastwood- type you don't want to mess with."

"They just happened to pick on the wrong guy at the wrong time," said Wesley White of Yulee in north Florida. White said he's known Lovell for 19 years.

Lovell is a former Marine who was a member of the helicopter detail that transported Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, White said. He also was a former Pan Am and Delta airline pilot who worked out regularly and was in good condition, White said.

"He's also one heck of a shot," White, 50, said.

Lovell has no family or children and is retired, White said.

No one answered the door at Lovell's two-story townhome Thursday, and attempts to reach him by phone were unsuccessful. Reporters and TV cameras were camped out in front of the residence hoping for an interview.

Charges are pending against the surviving suspect, Rettig said. Lovell is not expected to be charged, the spokesman said.

Police have found a handgun used by one of the suspects, Rettig said.

[sslater]

Retired Michigan Marines are tough too.
Reported in 28-Jun-07 Detroit News via AP:
"Ex-Marine, 72, fights off theft
Would-be pickpocket thwarted by former Golden Gloves champ and the store manager.
GRAND RAPIDS -- Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.
He immediately grabbed the person's wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened.
"I guess he thought I was an easy mark," Barnes, 72, said.
He's anything but an easy mark: Barnes served in the Marines, was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer and retired after 20 years as an iron worker.
Man is charged
Jesse Daniel Rae, the 27-year-old Newaygo County man accused of trying to pick Barnes' pocket, was arraigned Monday in Rockford District Court on one count of unarmed robbery, a 15-year felony.
Barnes said he had just withdrawn the money from an ATM and put it in the pocket of his shorts before driving to the Marathon service station and Next Door Food Store in Comstock Park, which is a suburb of Grand Rapids.
He remembers noticing a patron acting suspiciously, asking about the price of different brands of cigarettes.
When Barnes felt the hand in his pocket, he took action.
"I guess I acted on instinct," he said.
Kent County Sheriff's deputies said the manager quickly came around the counter.
The three of them struggled through the front door, where two witnesses said the manager slammed Rae to the ground and held him there.
"There was blood everywhere," said another manager on duty, Abby Ostrom, 25.
Barnes was a regional runner-up in Golden Gloves competition in the novice and open divisions before enlisting in the Marines in 1956.
He lived most of his adult life in Comstock Park with his wife, Patricia, before recently moving to Ottawa County. They have three children.
Working part time
After retiring as an iron worker, he now works part-time as a starter at a golf course.
Barnes said he would probably do the same thing again under the same circumstances, if for no other reason than what he would face back home.
"I wouldn't want my wife to give me hell," for letting that guy get my money," he said with a smile."


That pickpocket was lucky the old fella didn't have a gun.

[Richard S]

Old age and experience trump youth and stupidity.  I love it!  

[theirishguard]

don't pick on a vet.   Tom