Tulsa Man Turns Gun On Robber Who Took TV, Van

Wednesday, June 18th 2014, 10:32 pm

By: News On 6

Police are looking for a robbery suspect who stole from an elderly Tulsa couple. He took a TV and their van, but not before the man was able to turn the gun on the suspect.

Refusing to become the victim, one elderly man took the robbery into his own hands.

"Stuck the gun right in his face and said, 'I want all your money,'" said the victim's son Dean Burke.

Burke said his dad, returning home from the grocery store, wouldn't let himself be the victim. He said the robber pointed a gun and demanded money and the keys to a scooter.

"The kid laid the gun down on a box and he tried to start the scooter, and my dad reached down there, grabbed the gun and pointed it at him and backed him out of the garage," Burke said.

Even then, the robber didn't give up.

"All of the sudden, the kid grabbed the gun and twisted my dad's arm, and got the gun from him and said, 'Who's the boss now,'" said Burke.

The robber talked Burke's dad back into the house, where Burke's mom started having chest pains, and the thief took advantage of the distraction.

"And he just snipped the wires on the TV, and grabbed the computer, and ran out and put them in their van, said, 'Where's the keys?' and then he went," Burke said.

Tulsa Police later caught up with the van, but no suspect.

"We don't like situations like these and our citizens in Tulsa should be able to be in their houses. You should feel safe at home," said Justin Bean with the Tulsa Police Department.

Burke said the strangest thing was that the robber didn't look like a criminal.

"My dad kept asking him, 'Why are you doing this? What's the reason for doing this? You know you're going to go to jail for a long, long, time and if you hurt one of us, you're going to go there for the rest of your life,'" Burke said.

He said the man told his dad that he was doing it because he needed the money.

Police are still looking for the suspect. Burke described him as a black male, 160 pounds, about 5-feet-6-inches tall with a slender build.