in time

Description

A Mississippi man is in time out at the Rankin County Jail after his mother foiled his attempt to rob a convenience store, police said. Roy Mitchell, 22, of Flowood, Miss., faces one charge of attempted armed robbery after he tried to hold up a clerk with a gun, which was later revealed to be fake, while paying for a bag of Dorito's chips. His mom, who had followed her son into the store to do some shopping, quickly intervened. The incident, which occurred Tuesday morning at D's One Stop Food Mart in Brandon, Miss., was captured on surveillance video. "The mother sees the commotion, grabs the gun out of the boy's hand and pushes him out of the store," Chris Butts, assistant police chief in Brandon, told ABCNews.com. The alleged attempted thief's mother, Sharron Mitchell, told the clerk she was sorry, said her son was just playing and implored the clerk not to call the police, Butts said. After the pair left the store, the "shocked" employee called police, who located mother and son in nearby Pelahatchie. Mitchell was arrested and taken to jail, where he is being held on a $300,000 bond, Butts said, adding police recovered a black plastic pistol from the car. Butts said he views Mitchell's mother deserves credit for how she handled the situation. "I kind of feel like she's somewhat of a little hero," he said. "If the clerk had a gun it could have been real messy."