A St. Louis sheriff's deputy was robbed of his gun and phone by armed carjackers while he was in uniform and working a second job earlier this week.
The incident happened just before 12:30 a.m. Monday while a 37-year-old deputy was working security for a St. Louis Blues hockey game, KSDK-TV reports. As he was leaving the job, he found that his car was leaking coolant, and he called for a tow truck.
The deputy was waiting in his car when two armed men demanded he get out of his car. Complying, the deputy got out of his vehicle and began struggling with the suspects when they went for his weapon.
"He still had his hands up. He said, 'Just go, I'm not giving you my gun,'" said Lt. Michael Gamache. "One male put a gun to his head and told him to, 'Give up your gun.' The other male reached across and was able to undo it from his holster and took his gun."
The suspects were finally able to grab his gun and phone and took off with his car. No injuries were reported in the incident.
"He was pretty shocked," Gamache said. "He couldn't believe it happened to him, especially in full uniform. Little bit of embarrassment that it did happen to him. Scared."
Once the carjacking was reported, authorities used the Find My iPhone feature to track down the deputy's phone to Madison, Illinois. The stolen car was located behind an auto body shop, and the two accused carjackers were taken into custody nearby.
"Unfortunately, our deputy was by himself," said Gamache. "If there was somebody else with him, we don't know if it would have happened or not."
