California Woman Wrestles Butcher Knife Away From Would-Be Robber and Chases Him Out of Store

A split-second decision may have saved a woman’s life after a man with a knife entered a mini market in Los Angeles' Westlake District.

Surveillance footage from Amaya’s Mini Market on Feb. 9 shows a customer purchasing items. He lingers, asking the cashier to get him something from the back wall behind the register, then he makes his move.

He pulls out a large kitchen knife from the plastic bag he was carrying and points it at the cashier’s waist.

“He attacked the lady telling her to open the register and the lady didn’t want to open it,” Rene Amaya, the store owner, said. 

Amaya owns the mini market and says his employee held the knife handle to keep her attacker from stabbing her. She tries to scream for help and is somehow able to wrestle the weapon away, quickly turning the tables and chasing the attacker from the store.

“It’s unbelievable the guy taking advantage of the woman working by herself here,” Amaya said. 

This happened in the middle of the day, just after 2 p.m.

The attacker got away, and police are still searching for him.

Amaya believes he may live close by, saying the man had been in the store earlier in the day. He says he possibly overheard another customer making a large money transfer. 

Amaya says the man left and came back within a few minutes holding the plastic bag with the knife, hoping to rob the place after the money transfer was made.

“I want them to arrest him because he can’t be outside,” Amaya said. 

His employee, Amaya says, was shaken up but is already back at work. 

He says her ability to stay calm and react quickly under such terrifying circumstances helped keep her safe and sent her attacker running.

Anyone who may recognize the man in the video is urged to contact the LAPD.