Go Granny! 91-Year-Old Fends Off Robber, Goes Back to Work

Surveillance video captures incident on tape

Neither an attempted robbery nor a punch to the chest could stop 91-year-old Florence Critelli from completing her shift at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in East Northport on Thursday.

The feisty pharmacy cashier was behind the register when a man handed her a dollar for a candy bar, according to published reports. The man reached over and grabbed a handful of cash from the register drawer when Critelli opened it to give him change.

Quick to act, the wily elderly woman grabbed the would-be thief's hand and screamed. Then the robber punched her hard in the chest, knocking her down, before running out the door. Surveillance video (above) captured the incident on tape. 

"He hit me good," said Critelli, who works at the store 35 hours a week.

But the courageous woman, a 17-year employee at the Rite Aid, refused to go home early, saying she didn't want to just "sit there and be bored."

At the end of the day, Critelli packed up and drove herself home even though her boss urged her to let her son come and get her.

The mother of two, who has seven grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren, only has one request for police.

If they catch the guy, she wants to "smack him."

Police say the assailant is a clean-shaven white man about 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a thin build and tattoos of rings on his fingers, according to The New York Post

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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