An armed customer who intervened to prevent two men from attempting to steal goods, in a supposed to be daylight heist from an Alabama Tractor Supply shop, had a message for any prospective crooks who might be thinking about doing anything similar after the spectacular takedown that followed.
On a Friday morning in Alabama, Ryan Maxie and his fiancee Katie Clark were in the parking lot of a Tractor Supply store when realized something was wrong and rushed to notify the police while simultaneously attempting to understand what had happened, as the couple unexpectedly heard gunshots. When unbeknownst to them at the time, two men attempted to steal from the establishment in broad daylight.
“I was trying to call 911 while we were seeing what was going on,”said Katie Clark.
Intent on stealing the products, two men were filling a cart with unpaid stuff. Some customers, though, weren’t content to stand by and observe. One of them, as reported by The Blaze, pulled out a rifle and opened fire on the getaway car, blowing at least one of the SUV’s tires.
Theodore, Alabama’s Tractor Supply Co. is located about 15 minutes southwest of Mobile, and according to witnesses, two guys who were later identified as Toby Priest and Troy Brown were attempting to steal products from the store. Ryan Maxie, who watched the consequences of Priest and Brown’s faulty choices, claimed that choosing Theodore as a location to attempt to commit a crime was the first of many errors these thieves made.
“What was funny is the guy put his hands up to his mouth and went like that, and when he went like that, a big o’l bag full of white powder came and hit the ground. It was like dude, we all know you threw it. You got like 15 people standing around, everybody is going to be able to tell,” Maxie recalled.
Troy Brown and Toby Priest were both booked into Mobile Metro Jail and charged with third-degree felony theft.
Toby Priest was rescued from the getaway car by one of the customers. Although the second suspect didn’t travel very far, he was able to escape in the SUV.
“They kind of beat on each other inside the car, the guy was trying to [hit the driver’s hands] so he wouldn’t start the car. Unfortunately he was able to get it started and floored it back, so the guy had to step back so he didn’t get hit. When he floored it back he came out this entrance … and went to that light right there and hit a U-turn and kind of did a couple [of] donuts in the road,”Maxie recalled.
However, another customer managed to shoot at least one of the car’s tires, as though Troy Brown might have believed he was in the clear. Apparently, it had at least one flat tire, which was soon discovered by the Mobile Police. After it had been left on Highway 90 at the entrance to Interstate 10. Which Brown reportedly had no choice but to dump.
Brown was eventually found by police wearing a new attire, as witnesses stated, despite taking the time to change his clothes. With third-degree felony theft charges against them, Brown and Priest were both taken into custody at Mobile Metro Jail.
Ryan Maxie offered some words of wisdom and shared some advice for any thieves who might try their luck in his area after the two were arrested.
“Don’t come to Theodore and rob a Tractor Supply without knowing the person is going to have a gun. Everyone is walking around with guns in Theodore,”he said with a chuckle.
