Clerk Leaps Over Counter To Thwart Armed Robbery At Warren Hotel; Woman Arrested [VIDEO]

WARREN (WWJ) - A female suspect has been arrested after an attempted robbery, struggle and shooting Thursday morning in Warren.

The incident happened around 5:45 a.m. at the Victory Suites hotel off the I-696 service drive near Dequindre Road.

According to Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, a woman went to the hotel — wearing a mask and armed with a gun — and demanded cash from the clerk. At one point she put the gun down on the counter and the clerk grabbed it, leading to a struggle.

"He jumped over the counter and began wrestling with the suspect and they wrestled into the hallway, fighting over the gun. And during the struggle one shot was fired from the handgun — which didn't strike anybody," Fouts said.

The whole thing was caught on security video.

The mayor called it a "major wrestling match that could only be seen on Saturday Night Live."

"It's a situation where greed overtakes good judgment...he overwhelms her," said Fouts. "He's clearly very brave but she's very feisty."

The suspect left her weapon behind, the mayor said, and detectives were able to determine the gun's owner. Police quickly tracked her down.

"They then went to her place of work, which was in Novi. She was in scrubs," Fouts said.

Monae Patterson, who lives in the area, has family staying at the hotel. She said they called her after hearing what sounded like gunshots.

"They're like 'Monae are you OK?' I'm like 'Yeah. What's going on?' And they're like 'We heard gunshots and stuff. There was shots fired by our room,'" Patterson told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "They're fine. Another guy, I don't know if he was shot in the leg but it looked like he was bleeding down his leg, and he had a minor heart attack so they took him out on a stretcher."

WWJ's Mike Campbell reported the clerk, who suffered what were described as minor injuries in the scuffle, was taken to a local hospital to be checked out.

Fouts said police are investigating if the woman now in custody may be linked to at least one other robbery. Her name hasn't been released pending an arraignment not expected to take place until Friday or Monday.

Police are reviewing the security footage as an investigation continues.