When a gunman tried to hold up a butcher shop, he aimed his pistol at a man in a cowboy hat. That’s when the old cowboy calmly took off his glasses and proceeded to prove why that was a huge mistake.
Armed criminals believe they are invincible. They believe possessing a firearm gives them the ultimate advantage. However, just as they are intent on doing something against the law, they may make the big mistake of discounting the average citizens who find themselves in a desperate situation, and that’s exactly what happened in a butcher store.
The heart-stopping CCTV footage from a Mexico butcher shop shows a young, armed robber burst into the store waving a gun at the attendant behind the counter. That’s when the would-be thief notices the old cowboy — later identified as Reynaldo Cárdenas — standing off to his side, and he proceeds to point the firearm straight at him.
According to The Washington Post, the one-minute video plays out like a scene from a movie, and the hero is played by Reynaldo Cárdenas, the old man in the cowboy hat. When the gunman points his revolver at the cowboy, Reynaldo calmly takes off his glasses. The suspect is distracted for a split second by a female shopper coming up an aisle. As the gunman is facing the woman, Reynaldo overwhelms the robber from behind until his handgun falls to the floor.
Reynaldo continues to hold down the gunman as he struggles, flailing until the two of them stagger into an aisle. Panicked and realizing he’s bitten off more than he can chew, the robber tries to escape, but the cowboy grabs him while he’s trying to flee. In the meantime, two store workers rush over to help, with one picking up the gun. The robber reappears on camera again, minus a shirt. Apparently, in the midst of a fracas that was hidden from view, the gunman somehow slipped free of his hoodie.
Desperately trying to flee, the robber brandishes a long knife in a bid to escape. Undeterred, the cowboy manhandles the robber again while the two store workers also step in to disarm the now defeated criminal. Now shirtless, he tries to make a break for the door, but the cowboy and two employees apprehend the robber just before he exits the store and pin him down atop a pile of metal shopping baskets.
The footage ends with the three men holding the robber down while an employee is seen on the phone calling for the police. “The butcher shop, Carnes Cares of Monterrey, Mexico, posted the video of the botched robbery on its Facebook page,” Washington Post reported. “Despite accusations that the video was fake, the shop’s co-owner, Daniel Cárdenas, said the altercation was very real — and frightening. The man in the cowboy hat is Cárdenas’s father, Reynaldo Cárdenas, who also owns the carniceria.”
Despite his cool demeanor on camera, the elder Cárdenas admitted later he was scared. “Actually, he told me that he acted that way out of fear,” Daniel Cárdenas said in Spanish through Facebook messages. “He really believed that the man was going to shoot them. When he had the chance, he acted instinctively to disarm him.”
According to reports, the police arrived about 10 minutes after the scuffle and took the gunman into custody. Daniel Cárdenas was away from the store when the attempted robbery took place, and his family called to tell him what had happened. Upon reviewing the surveillance footage, he said he was relieved for his father. “I’m just glad he wasn’t hurt,” he said.
According to the Daily Mail, the video footage was shared on Reddit. Applauding the cowboy’s heroics, Reddit users were quick to praise Reynaldo Cárdenas. “When you threaten an old man, and he takes his glasses off, you might want to reevaluate your life choices,” one said jokingly while another quipped, “He didn’t even lose his hat – not his first rodeo.”
However, the best retort might have been: “You mess the bull young man, you’ll get the horns.” Real-life heroes come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Luckily, this would-be armed robbery was ended by the good guys without anyone getting hurt.
