Texas ice cream shop owners fight back, fire shots at robber

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A husband-and-wife team did not stand idly by when a man attempted to rob their Texas ice cream shop.

While Jorge Padillo struggled with the assailant at La Michoacana Auténtica in northwest Harris County on Feb. 1, his wife, Nadia Padillo, walked to the back of the shop and returned with a handgun and took a shot, KTRK reported.

In surveillance video, Jorge Padilla is working behind the counter when a man wearing a dark-colored jacket and gray beanie approached to speak with him, the television station reported. When Jorge Padilla opened the cash register, the man reached over and tried to snatch the cash.

That’s when Nadia Padilla stood up from her seat, made sure her children were safe in the back of the store, and retrieved her weapon, KTRK reported.

Nadia Padilla shot at the robber, and surveillance video shows her husband chasing the man out of the store, the television station reported.

“I hope they think twice about that next time,” Nadia Padilla told KTRK.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the would-be thief is responsible for at least seven robberies in the area since early January, KTRK reported. Investigators released photos of the suspect, who has been seen leaving stores in a light-colored Toyota Corolla or a small U-Haul box truck.

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