Pizza shop owner scares off would-be robber with stern refusal

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — The owner of a Westmoreland County pizza shop refused to back down when she was faced with a robbery suspect.

The would-be robber walked into Di's Pizza Grille in New Alexandria Friday night and demanded money from a waitress at the cash register, police said.

That’s when the shop’s owner, Diana Bates, said she went to the counter and the man again demanded that the cash register be opened and money handed over.

Instead, Bates pounded her fist on the counter and told him she wasn't giving him anything.

"You need to go out and work for what you want.  I work for everything I get.  So, I'm not parting with it on a command from a dude in a camo hoodie.  That's not happening,” Bates told Channel 11 reporter Vince Sims of the man who tried to rob her shop.

Police said the man ran when Bates reached for the phone.

She said she knows they could have been hurt, but believes in standing up for herself.

"I'll be more prepared if it happens again, but I promise you I'm not just handing over my money,” Bates said.

WPXI