Officers respond to an alleged robbery attempt at the Suds and Duds, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 17, 2016 | Photo by Tracie Sullivan, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Three suspects are in custody Thursday night after two of them were stopped for allegedly trying to break into a coin machine at the Suds and Duds Laundromat.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Jimmy Roden said a man and woman had gone into the laundromat located in back of the Vault Pawn Shop at 200 North at approximately 4 p.m., when the owner, who was in the pawn shop watching a surveillance camera, witnessed what he believed to be the two suspects attempting to break into the coin machine using tools.

The owner went in back to the laundromat and allegedly brandished a firearm at the suspects, telling them to stop, Roden said. The male suspect then came at the owner and the owner fired his weapon into the wall, “reportedly as a warning shot,” Roden said in a news release.

Roden said the male suspect then overtook the owner and they began to fight.

“The brief altercation spilled outside of the business onto the sidewalk,” the news release said. “The suspect then disengaged with the business owner and he and the female, who had also been inside the store, then entered an SUV that was parked in the parking lot.”

A passerby witnessed the fight and stopped to help. The laundromat owner and the witness, who was also reportedly carrying a firearm, “held the suspects at gunpoint until police arrived,” Roden said.

Police found another suspect sitting in a vehicle who had not entered the laundromat.

“It is unknown what involvement, if any, he had in the attempted theft,” Roden said of the suspect found in the vehicle.

All three suspects were taken into custody without incident.

At the time of publication, authorities are still investigating the incident and have not filed any charges, Roden said.

“We’re still trying to sort everything out,” he said.

This is a developing story.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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