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ST. GEORGE - Two elderly women stood up to an armed robber Monday - and won. It would terrify anybody to have an armed man enter your home, and start barking demands. Instead, the would-be robber ended up following their orders. The mother and daughter didn't back down, and he ended up taking off.
"I was never afraid. I just stood up to him, and I think the Lord blessed me," said 74-year-old Mary Lyn Tousa.
Whoever called a little old lady helpless has never met Tousa or her 100 year old mother, Maggie Stucki.
It was a quiet Sunday night and Tousa was cooking dinner for her mother, until they heard some rattling at the front door. A man had entered the home, in his 30s or 40s, and had a bandana covering his face, a hoodie over his hair and a gun in his hand.
"At first I thought it was a prank from one of mom's grandsons, and I said ‘Who are you'? And he didn't respond," Tousa said.
Instead, he started shouting an order for her to get on the ground. But he had another thing coming.
"He said get down and motioned with his gun," she said. "And I said, ‘I'm not going to get on the floor.' I said, ‘Get outta here! Get outta here right now!'"
The two women were surprised he followed orders and left even though he was armed with a gun. But Tousa says she wasn't afraid. The look in his eyes wasn't a look of anger it was a look of desperation.
"I don't think he was out for meanness. I think he (probably wanted) money or food or something," she said.
Tousa called her neighbor to warn her about the man, then called police. Stucki, her mother, was beaming with motherly pride and gratitude.
"She is brave," Stucki said. "She's a real big comfort."
Mary Lynn drew a sketch for police. The suspect is described as a man between 30 and 40 years old, approximately 5-foot-8, and weighing between 160 and 180 pounds. He has short, dark hair, wore blue jeans and a dark, possibly maroon-colored jacket. He had a red bandanna around the lower part of his face.
Anyone with information is asked to call St. George Police at (435) 627-4950.
Email: jstagg@ksl.com
