Man wielding wooden chair foils armed robbery at Wendy's

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A man visiting his parents in California foiled a Christmas Day robbery at a Wendy's by striking the attacker on the head with a wooden chair.

The 58-year-old man, who asked to be identified only as Daniel, said he was visiting his elderly parents in Yuba City when they decided to get Wendy's for dinner on Christmas night.

Daniel said he and his parents were waiting for their food when a man who walked into the eatery wearing a bag over his head captured his attention.

"So I kept an eye on him," Daniel told KTXL-TV. "And then I noticed that he had a knife in his right hand. And he cut in the front of the line and went up to the cashier, brandished the knife, and said, 'Give me the money.' And then about two seconds later, he turns to somebody on his left and says, 'She'll take care of you in a minute.' And that's when I brought the chair down on his head."

Daniel told KCRA-TV he had one thought in his head when he sprang into action: "I'm not going to let you turn this into somebody's Christmas memorial."

Witnesses said the strike from the chair appeared to do the trick.

"I'm sure it didn't feel good ... he didn't even try to continue what he was doing," Yuba City Police Lt. Jim Runyen told the Sacramento Bee.

Daniel said the man quickly fled the eatery, empty-handed. Daniel chased him out of the store, but was unable to stop him from getting away.

"If anybody out there knows a friend who got a gash on the head last night, that was probably the culprit," Daniel said.