PEARLAND, Texas – Some people in Pearland say seeing attempted robberies near Pearland Parkway are rare. Which is why an off-duty firefighter was in the right place at the right time.
Craig Armstrong has a lot of titles: He's a Santa Fe city firefighter, a paramedic and some might call him a hero.
"Honestly I wasn't trying to do anything heroic," Armstrong said. "I reacted, I'm a dad, I'm a father and I saw a 15-year-old girl being chased at gunpoint and I did what most dads would do."
Monday night, he was done shopping with his 11-year-old daughter at the H-E-B off Pearland Parkway when he noticed something wasn't right.
"I saw the mom and one of the girl’s running back towards the store screaming and yelling: 'He's got a gun, he's got a gun,"' Armstrong recalled.
After Armstrong told his daughter to hit the deck in their Chevy Tahoe, he spotted the would-be robber, and took action.
"I think I just yelled 'hey' really loudly, but it got his attention and I sped at him really quickly and he took off running," Armstrong said.
Armstrong said a couple of H-E-B employees chased after the man, but the suspect turned around and pointed his gun at them. He then jumped in a car with two others and tried to drive away.
"I think we were both a little scared," Armstrong said, referring to himself and his daughter.
But that didn't stop the duo from tailing the suspect car a few miles and leading Pearland police right to the three men.
"I give them kudos, they're amazing. They caught up to these guys quickly and they did an awesome job," Armstrong said. "I have to say our Pearland PD does a great job."
Pearland officers arrested the three men in the car and Armstrong says he wanted to get the story out there so that guys like that don't show up in his hometown again.