CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Coastal Bend family is speaking out Thursday night after a trip to ice cream, and dessert turned into a frightening experience at La Paletera on Morgan Ave.
According to Lupe Jimenez, his daughter was at the counter when a man stopped right next to her.
"Immediately I heard him say hand me the money right now," Lupe's wife said.
Wednesday afternoon a man walked into the La Paletera when the Jimenez family was inside.
"He looked suspicious because he kept moving his head back and forth like to check and see if there was anybody in the place," the wife said.
The Jimenez said they were sitting at a table, but their daughter was waiting for her ice cream.
"I went into a few seconds of shock because my daughter was standing right next to the guy," the wife said.
According to Jimenez, his daughter started to slowly back away from the counter, unsure if he had a gun or not.
"The first thing I thought was if I take my purse with me, If I walk with my purse I'm afraid he's going to get aggressive with me," the wife said.
The wife put her purse between the booth and the wall then ran to the bathroom with her family and locked the door.
"We got scared and thought that he would have started shooting at us you know..we didn't know what to expect," the wife said.
Jimenez said their daughter called 911, and a few minutes later, police arrived, and the man was gone.
"I can't take stress, but God was with me, you know," Jimenez said.
Jimenez' wife has a heart condition.
"You think a lot of things is going to happen and you know, and the first thing you think is your family," Jimenez said.
According to Jimenez the staff didn't seem as shaken up as they were
"He said that's normal for us. Ya that's normal for him but not for us," Jimenez said.
The owners told they, Jimenez, that they been robbed several times in the past.
"I'm just thankful that nothing tragic happened," Jimenez said.
Police are still looking for the suspect, and they believe he is responsible for the robberies a McDonalds, Walgreens, and CVS on the same day.
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