After Sarah Cherry’s father was robbed at gunpoint two months ago at an Arkansas Domino’s pizza store, the former Army military police officer began carrying a gun with her for protection to her job at the same restaurant.
Cherry had cause to use that gun — a .380 — Wednesday night when three armed men wearing hoodies stormed into the Blytheville eatery and shot at her during a robbery attempt.
“When she came around [to the front of the store], she didn’t know what was going on,” Cherry’s father, Clint Cherry, told The Daily Caller during a phone interview. “She came around front, and she shot.”
“She was defending the people more than herself,” Cherry added, noting that there were three or four other employees in the store at the time.
Cherry said his daughter fired three shots at the assailants.
“When she shot, they took off. And then she followed them out the door to see where they were going. She might have said a few choice words too,” Cherry joked.
“She knows how to shoot,” the proud father added, mentioning that his daughter was a military police officer during her six years in the Army. “She could have hit them if she wanted to.”
Clint Cherry himself has stared down the barrel of a gun — and it wasn’t during his own 28-year military career.
Two months ago an armed robber “stuck a gun in my face,” Cherry said, adding that he handed the robber the $18 he had in his pocket.
“There’s so much stuff going on in this town,” Cherry told TheDC.
He rattled off a list of businesses in town that have been robbed recently. Besides his own store, an insurance company down the street was recently hit. As was a chicken restaurant. A gas station across town was robbed Friday, he said.
“I told her, I said, use it to protect yourself,” Cherry says he told his daughter of her work gun. “We lose our job, we lose our job, but we’re going to protect ourselves.”
Like many restaurants, Domino’s has a corporate policy prohibiting employees from carrying guns while at work. Many have questioned whether these policies are wise, especially for employees of pizza restaurants, whose delivery drivers are prime targets for criminals.
Such a policy came up several weeks ago when a Papa John’s pizza delivery driver in Georgia shot a man in the face as he attempted to rob her at gunpoint. (RELATED: Papa John’s Delivery Driver Shoots Armed Robber, Now Worried She Will Lose Her Job)
Papa John’s also has a corporate policy prohibiting employees from carrying guns, even for protection. That employee initially worried that she would lose her job, but the company decided against the idea several days later. Instead, the company gave her a job inside a store and offered her counseling.
Domino’s employees have lost their jobs in the past for shooting at armed robbers in self-defense. The company requires employees to sign an agreement containing a clause about not carrying weapons.
A spokesman for Domino’s corporate office said that the decision to fire Cherry over the incident would be up to the franchisee who owns the Blytheville store.
“The corporate office has no authority in making personnel decisions for independent business owners,” Tim McIntyre, senior vice president of corporate communications for Domino’s told TheDC.
Clint Cherry said that he is certain that the independent franchisee supports his daughter and will not fire her.
TheDC was unable to reach the franchisee.
Blytheville police commended Cherry for protecting herself and her co-workers.