Video: Salvation Army bell ringer attacked in Riverview Publix parking lot calls good Samaritans her angels
RIVERVIEW, Fla. - Good Samaritans stepped up to help a 65-year-old woman who was under attack in a Publix parking lot.
Videos shows the suspect knocking her to the ground. That's when the good Samaritans surrounded him and held him down until police arrived.
Billie Richert says she's thankful she was able to walk away with just scrapes and bruises. She had just finished her bell-ringing shift for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign and was walking to her car when she says a man attacked her.
In the surveillance video, you can see the suspect, 42-year-old Robert Moore, sitting on the curb and Richert walking right past him. He then gets up and runs toward her.
"He told me to give him my keys and I said no and turned away from him," Richert explained. "And he was still all over me. And I told him to leave me alone. I told him to get away. And I screamed, and I said, ‘I have pepper spray, and I'm going to spray you.’ Well, I turned around and went like that, and he grabbed my keys and took off."
The video then shows her falling to the ground. Moments later, one of the good Samaritans can be seen sprinting across the parking lot tackling Moore. They both held him down until police arrived.
Good Samaritan 'Dan' suffered broken fingers in the attack.
"He tried to run, and he wasn't able to get far and took him down and fought him for a while. I think he was, he's on some drugs," the good Samaritan, identified as Dan said.
Dan, who didn't want to show his face or use his last name, is an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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"I really didn't give it any thought. I saw it and just blacked out. I really don't remember catching him or throwing him down," Dan said.
Richert calls Dan and the other gentleman who helped take down Moore her angels.
Billie Richert had just stopped ringing the bell for the Salvation Army when she was attacked.
"I was really blessed," Richert shared. "They came to my rescue. I didn't break a bone. I could've been stabbed. I could've been shot or anything. I'm blessed."
Dan suffered two broken fingers as well as some scrapes, but says he's just glad he was able to help.
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"There are people who choose to be evil and the only way that we can prevent it is people need to step in and do something when they see it go down," Dan said.
Billie Richert says the good Samaritans are her angels.
On Wednesday, Richert got to see Dan for the first time since the attack to thank him.
"He is an excellent person. I told him his momma raised a good boy and that made him smile," Richert said.
Moore is facing battery charges and currently remains in the Hillsborough County Jail.