Customers, staff take down alleged robber in Saskatoon

Customers and staff at a Saskatoon business foiled a robbery Tuesday afternoon.

Police say around 4:45 p.m., a man entered The Dogg House, a sports bar on Idylwyld Drive North, with what appeared to be a firearm and demanded money.

Stacey Lekivetz was working when it happened. She said the man came into the pub and went behind the bar.

“I didn’t see it, but he took a gun out, and he said, ‘Everybody remain calm,’ ” said Lekivetz.

Lekivetz said she and her co-worker were standing at the bar when the man demanded money.

“I was standing at the bar looking at him take the money, and I’m going, ‘Oh God, this is really happening,’ ” said Lekivetz.

Lekivetz said as the suspect tried to leave, some customers jumped into action.

“Then he walked out and two of our customers, when they got outside, they said they had to leave, and they tackled him to the ground and held him until police got here,” she said.

The gun turned out to be an Airsoft pistol, but Lekivetz said no one at the bar knew that at the time. She says the customers were regulars and feels they were looking out for the staff.

“Everybody knows everybody in here,” she said.

Lekivetz says the man tried to get away with $4,000, and none of the staff or customers had seen him before. She says it was a very scary situation, but she’s OK.

“I have three kids at home and if it had have been a real gun and he would have shot it, it would have definitely been a little more traumatic than what it was,” she said.

A 34-year-old man was to appear in court on Wednesday facing several charges, including robbery.