Huckleberries Online

Update: Idaho barista fends off robber

Posted by Cindy

Dec. 30, 2009 11:09 a.m. • 13 comments

It’s not just the after-hours scene. Apparently, getting your morning cup of joe can be dangerous in the Lake City, too.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested this morning following an attempted holdup of a coffee stand in Coeur d’Alene in which the barista pulled a gun on the would-be robber.

A plainclothes deputy sheriff for Kootenai County was in the area of the robbery serving civil papers when a radio broadcast went out alerting officers to the incident.

The robber had a gun in the attempt to take money from Sunshine Espresso at Ironwood Drive and Government Way, but left without getting any cash.

The barista, Michelle Cornelson, said the robber showed a handgun and demanded money, but when a vehicle pulled into the lot for an order, it caused the robber to lower his gun, according to Coeur d’Alene police.

She told police she used the distraction to grab her own weapon and point it at the robber, ordering him to leave. More here.

And the latest from KXLY here.

Boy howdy! Gun totin’ baristas. What next?

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

keithincda on December 30 at 8:54 a.m.
“I’m guessing these things don’t happen at the forefront of their brain,”

wow, there’s an understatement. It happens at the lower front of of their brain, located just below the waist. Little head thinking for the big head.
keithincda on December 30 at 8:56 a.m.
oops wrong thread, big head thinking it was going to be funny. see Tiger thread instead
Cindy_H on December 30 at 8:58 a.m.
((keith)) made me laugh so hard I spilled my coffee!
PatrickH on December 30 at 9:14 a.m.
That’s bad Cindy, now you have to go get more coffee and we know how dangerous that can be these days.
Cindy_H on December 30 at 9:18 a.m.
I know, Patrick!
That’s why I think keith should bring it to me. He owes me.
PatrickH on December 30 at 9:19 a.m.
Sounds fair to me
Bent on December 30 at 9:30 a.m.
Be careful what you wish for, cindy… seems to me keith is a having a problem keeping his heads straight
Cindy_H on December 30 at 9:31 a.m.
Ack! More coffee spilled. I think I need a sippy cup.
Your turn for refills Bent!
keithincda on December 30 at 9:36 a.m.
how bout those Seahawks, huh?
Cabbage Boy on December 30 at 11:25 a.m.
I am confused. Was this a bikini barista that pulled the gun?
Fixer on December 30 at 11:29 a.m.
I’d like to formally state my support for bikini baristas with guns…
idawa on December 30 at 11:49 a.m.
guns in drive in coffee stands, gun in bars, etc. Is Hagadone’s new travel slogan, Come to N. Idaho, Everyone’s Pack’in … Ye-haw!
poolman on December 30 at 1:27 p.m.
That is a job a woman would definitely want to have a defense mechanism. With all the robberies lately - the drive through coffee stand would seem to be a vulnerable target.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.