FALL RIVER, MA (WCVB/CNN) - The suspect is dressed like a ninja, but the would-be robber didn't exactly play the part. And he ran up against a Syrian refugee who had seen much tougher characters in the Middle East.
Store video shows the store clerk fighting back, and taking aim at the self-declared ninja with a 2-by-4. The security video shows customers paying for groceries when the robber dressed like a ninja stormed in the store demanding money.
"He puts out the mask. He was pleading to give him the money, only, please give me the money. I told him sorry, I have no money here,” said store owner Ahmad Abdulrahman.
The robber was dressed in black from head-to-toe, and armed with an expandable metal baton. He wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I’m here like for a couple of years. I'm never expecting someone to be so aggressive,” said Abdulrahman, a 35-year-old Syrian refugee. He’s soft-spoken, but definitely hard-nosed. He grabbed the big stick and fought back against the ninja. His arms are now covered with bruises.
He was defending the small market he bought a year ago, going man-to-man in hand-to-hand combat for his livelihood, his wife and their two young children. "Unfortunately some people are so weak, they think it's so easy to walk in and take your money, but not me,” he said.
Chasing the would-be ninja robber out of the store and down the street, the survivor of the Syrian Civil War has seen far worse.
Abdulrahman is grateful for every day in America. "You have to be tough to survive. You have to act tough, and thanks to God, I'm doing well. I open my store. I close it. I do like 17 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks God,” he said.
So far there is no arrest, but police say that surveillance video has given them a few leads.
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