Gas Station Attendant Fights Off Armed Burglar With Piping Hot Cup Of Coffee

An employee at the Marathon gas station in Muncie, Indiana, managed to foil an attempted armed burglary using nothing but a hot cup of joe.

The employee, who has not been identified, told police he was filling up a cup of coffee behind the counter when a masked man entered the small store. When he turned around, the man was pointing a gun at his face. Acting quickly, the gas station clerk launched the scalding hot cup of coffee at the intruder, hitting him squarely in the face.

A short video obtained from the station's surveillance cameras shows the encounter, followed by the would-be burglar sprinting out of the store. The whole exchange happens so quickly that the door doesn't even close from the burglar's entry.

Local police, however, do not recommend that anyone follow the clerk's example. "I would caution anyone against taking action, Muncie police officer Brian Campbell said in a statement. "If someone is robbing them the best thing do is to comply with their demands especially for money. It's not worth being injured or possibly killed over."