Watch: Australian Store Owner Fights Robbers With Improvised Flamethrower

A convenient store owner in Redland City, Australia, fought with two armed robbers with an improved weapon: a flamethrower made out of a lighter and insect spray.
Jonathan Zhou
1/30/2016
Updated:
1/31/2016

A convenience store owner in Redland City, Australia, fought with two armed robbers with an improved weapon: a flamethrower made out of a lighter and insect spray.

CCTV video captured the moment when Alexandra Hills shop owner Dan Rigney blasted the intruders with flame, knocking down one to the  ground and forcing the other to retreat to the door.

Ultimately, however, the flamethrower was no match for the robbers, who had guns. Rigney was forced at gun-point to put down the lighter and spray, and fled the store as the robbers were looting it.

The robbers eventually got away with 680 Australian dollars in total, Channel 9 News reports. The police are still looking for the attackers.

This isn’t Rigney’s first confrontation with robbers. In 2010, he chased one down the street into the arms of police officers.

Jonathan Zhou is a tech reporter who has written about drones, artificial intelligence, and space exploration.
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