Don’t expect anyone at Northeast Pizza to be a job reference for 30-year-old Sean Coulson. Cops said months after getting fired, he returned wearing a mask in an attempt to rob this restaurant in Barre, Masschusetts. It didn’t work. His former co-workers stopped him, as told in a report from The Worcester Telegram.
Employee Trevor Kosla said he didn’t initially recognize the robber in the incident Tuesday night.
“Before I knew it, this man had come through the front doors, and he was fully concealed,” he said, describing the suspect as wearing a ski mask, black gloves, black sunglasses, a hood, and an overcoat. The man had pillows stuffed in the coat to make himself seem big, Kosla said, and had a “gun” and a bag.
The robber allegedly demanded money, and when Kosla’s coworker froze, the robber jumped over the counter to grab that coworker, throw him against the wall, choke him, and hold the gun against his head.
“In a split second, I made a choice to act, and I grabbed him with my right arm around the neck from behind, and tried to force him down to the ground,” Kosla said. Others joined in.
Surveillance footage caught it all on tape. Several men can be seen grappling the masked individual and taking him to the ground. Kosla said the suspect eventually identified himself as Coulson, and claimed it was all just a joke.
“That is not a joke, by any means,” Kosla told the Telegram, adding that he thought the gun was real.
The firearm ended up being fake, police said.
Coulson faces multiple charges including armed robbery while masked, and is scheduled for a bond hearing on Feb. 5. Employees and at least one customer took him down, said Barre Police Sgt. William Recos. Cops also said he lives across the street from the restaurant.
Recos advised citizens not to take the law into their own hands.
“We don’t want people putting their lives at risk,” he said.
Coulson lost his job last Summer for showing up to work drunk, and giving out free pizza, employees told WCVB.
[Featured image via WCVB]
