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Would-be robber shoots himself in foot, gets stabbed, then arrested, police say

Tribune staff report

9:12 PM CDT, August 26, 2008

A robber's plan to hold up a Southwest Side convenience store Monday afternoon took a different turn: The robber shot himself in the foot, got stabbed by a store employee and ended up in police custody at a city hospital, Chicago police said.

The botched robbery attempt unfolded about 3 p.m. Monday in the Brighton Mini Mart, 2532 W. 47th St., when two men entered the store and one pointed a handgun at the owners and demanded cash, police said.

As the assailants made their demands, a 24-year-old employee at the store resisted the armed man, who, during the struggle, accidentally shot himself in the foot. The 61-year-old owner of the store then apparently grabbed a knife and stabbed the wounded robber in the back, authorities said.

An employee at the store Tuesday declined to comment about the robbery.

Police said store employees suffered cuts to their hands in the incident. The two assailants fled to a getaway car, but the wounded robber was arrested after trying to get treatment for his injuries at Provident Hospital of Cook County, a police spokeswoman said.

He had not been charged as of Tuesday afternoon. No other arrests have had been made.