Sheriff in Buncombe County, North Carolina Honors 2 Teens for Catching Armed Robbery Suspect

Sheriff in Buncombe County, North Carolina Honors 2 Teens for Catching Armed Robbery Suspect
(Buncombe County Schools)
Epoch Newsroom
3/11/2016
Updated:
3/11/2016

Two teenagers in North Carolina were honored for catching an armed robbery suspect.

Sheriff Van Duncan honored Alex McGlothlin and Cameron Connors this week for tackling suspect Travis Lee Coffey after he tried to rob the gas station they were working at on Feb. 17.

Coffey allegedly tried to rob the clerk with a knife but was stymied by the security glass partition separating the clerk from him.

He then approached two women outside who were pumping gas, and stole a wallet from one of them. 

“We heard her yelling for her wallet back, and we saw a guy running through the parking lot and so we ran after him,” Connors, a senior at Erwin High School in Asheville, told the Citizen-Times. “We kind of tackled him and held him down until the sheriff’s department got there.”

Both teens said they “just reacted.” 

“It is just awesome when we see a couple of young men like Alex and Cameron step-up and protect people in the community,” said Sheriff Duncan, reported WSPA. “They put themselves in personal danger but stepped up anyway and held on to this guy until the Sheriff’s office could get there.”

Duncan and school officials honored the pair during a ceremony at the school.

One of the female victims is an employee of Massage Envy, which sent a representative to honor the students with a gift during the ceremony.