BUFORD, Ga. — A woman targeted during a robbery says she used words to stop a man armed with a gun.
Laurie Bellew was inside her coffee shop on March 25 when the man came in and demanded cash.
"He yelled and said, 'I want all your money,' and I said, 'I'm not giving,' and I kind of looked at him like, I said, 'I'm not giving you all my money,'" Bellew said.
Gwinnett County police say the gunman then robbed a nearby Little Caesars.
Bellew said she had just locked up Pete's Place coffee shop on Buford Village Way when the man walked in.
"He said, 'I want a black coffee and all your money, as well,'" Bellew said.
Bellew fired back with an unexpected answer.
"I said, 'I'm not giving you all my money,' and I don't think he knew. I don't know why I said that, I was just so calm at the time," Bellew said.
She said the man got frustrated and tried again.
"He shoved everything on the counter and pulled a gun," Bellew said. "I kind of walked back a step and I said, 'what are you going to do, shoot me?"
She said the robber didn't know what to do.
"He just stood there and as I came around he started walking out," Bellew said. "I shut the door and that's when the nerves hit."
Police believe the same man walked into a pizza shop a few minutes later. Video from inside the business shows him pulling a gun and demanded money.
The man took the cash and took off.
Bellew believes she knows why she stayed so calm.
"I really think, you know, the God thing that I just felt protected," Bellew said.
Investigators say the man looked nervous in the video. If you recognize him, you're asked to call Crimestoppers at 404-577-TIPS.