Original Blog Entry: Clerk shoots robber after cellphone deflects knife

truesee — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:13:19 GMT

Updated: 4:16 p.m. June 16, 2009

Roswell clerk shoots attacker after cellphone deflects knife

By Mary Lou Pickel

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, June 15, 2009

The robber came in the door of the Beverage Mart liquor store in Roswell, waving a big, black hunting knife.

He wanted the money in the knapsack. Now!

He lunged at the clerk, Joseph Wescott, 59, who leaned back to get away from that 10-inch gleaming blade. The knife hit the cell phone in Wescott s breast pocket instead.

That bought time. Time enough for Wescott to reach for the Glock .40 he kept under the counter.

It was Monday night, about 8:30 p.m., and that s when accused robber, Carlos Jeanpierre, 24, of Atlanta, realized this might be the end.

He ran for the door, but not before Wescott got off a round, hitting him in the side. The bullet went in the right side and lodged in the left side of the abdomen.

He ll live, said Roswell Police Lt. James McGee. The doctor was trying to remove the bullet, and police will match it against the gun, McGee said.

Storeowner Mike Burnett watched the crime take place afterward on the store video and spoke with Wescott, who is the father of a Roswell Police officer. The son had bought his dad both the gun and the phone, Wescott said.

The phone was a little one, similar to a Razr, said Burnett. It still worked after the attack, because that is what Wescott used to call police, he said. The phone is in evidence now.

It s unclear if Jeanpierre was a regular customer at the liquor store, but he has been a regular with the Roswell Police.

Jeanpierre has been charged with several offenses previously in Roswell, including criminal trespass, simple assault, possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct, burglary, theft by receiving and cruelty to children, McGee said.

Burnett, a former engineer, has owned the liquor store about six months. He said he bought it with the stipulation that Wescott continue working there because he has experience in running the business.

Burnett s son, Robert, stood by his dad Tuesday in the liquor store, wearing a black shirt that said, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Should Be a Convenience Store, not a Government Agency.

Burnett has a gun too.

This business tends to be a high-cash business, Burnett said. It s good protection.

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