Barefoot Man Attempts To Rob Several OKC Stores

Grocery store employees and citizens stop a robber. Police said customers grabbed 51-year-old Robert Wirtz and held him down in the middle of a busy northwest Oklahoma City Walmart. Days earlier, the suspect attempted to hold up four other stores barefoot and pretending to have a gun.

Police said Wirtz hit up four business near northwest 23rd and Penn in about 45 minutes, but left each time without money.

“All the employees reported the same way,” said Officer Megan Morgan, Oklahoma City Police Department. “That it looked like the male had his finger in his pocket trying to pretend like he had a gun.”

Employees didn't comply with his demands and told police Wirtz was barefoot and they could tell he didn't have a gun.

The next day, Wirtz tried the same stunt at a Neighborhood Walmart. He demanded all the cashier's money or he would kill her.

“The employee who was being robbed made it known that she was being robbed by the suspect,” said Officer Morgan.

That's when an employee and several customers stepped in to stop Wirtz. They grabbed him and held him down until police arrived.

"Anybody will do anything for money now,” said customer Melvin Cudjo.

This man commends citizens for helping but thinks it should have been left to authorities.

“It’s good to try to be a good Samaritan but sometimes you kind of got to let police take that into their own hands,” said Cudjo. “He could have had a gun and could have been worse that it was.”

The only person hurt in the scuffle was the suspect. He was taken to a local hospital and then booked into jail on a robbery complaint. Police also learned Wirtz is a DOC escapee from a facility in Oklahoma City.