October 30, 2006

It was supposed to be one of those quick and easy armed robberies.

Quick, because the robber was alone and on foot.

Easy, because of the victim he singled out for the crime.

But it didn't turn out that way.

Instead, a grandmother was able to turn the tables on a man with a gun...with her 13-month-old grandbaby in her arms!

Deputies say Lawrence Woolfolk went into Paulos Cleaners on Peach Orchard Road a little after 10 o'clock this morning.

68-year-old Janis Butler, the assistant manager, was busy pressing clothes and trying to calm down a fussy baby.

So she wasn't in the mood to put up with a thief.

"And then he put the pistol--cocked the pistol and put it in the child's face," Janis told News 12. "Then he put it in my face and said he wanted the money."

Janis told him to go ahead and take the money while she got the baby to calm down.

But when he went for the money, she went for something else.

""I said, 'The money's under the desk; let me get this baby calm.' And he went to get the money out from under the counter," Janis said. "And then I pulled out my .38 revolver and cocked it, and I was going to shoot...but I happened to think that it will devastate the baby, because she was already crying and hollering and carrying on."

The gunman was devastated enough.

Without managing to grab a cent, he hit the door running, and Janis called 911.

Police made a quick arrest, because the suspect and his pistol both fit the description Janis gave them. He is 21-year-old Lawrence Woolfolk.

Janis was carrying that gun legally. Granny's got a gun, and she's not afraid to use it.

The suspect's lucky she was babysitting at the time and didn't want to upset the child.