CCTV footage of the incident went viral at the time after a pensioner in the bookies helped foil the robbery.
Gardaí investigating an attempted armed robbery at a bookmakers in the Glanmire area of Cork that occurred on 15 September 2018 have arrested two men in relation to the investigation.
The men, aged in their 20s and 30s, were arrested in the Donoughmore area of Cork and are currently detained at Mayfield Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.
The robbery was captured on CCTV footage at the time and went viral due to the fact an 83-year-old local man named Denis O’Connor intervened and managed to foil it.
Two men carrying hammers and one man armed with a suspected firearm entered Bar One racing at Crestfield, Glanmire but were fought off by Denis and the store manager.
85-year-old great grandfather foils attempted robbery at Cork bookmaker | https://t.co/gWJrcLQyw4 pic.twitter.com/XHEkD13dgJ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 17, 2018
In an interview with Neil Prendeville on Cork’s RedFM following the incident, store manager Tim Murphy hailed O’Connor – whom he described as a “lovely man” – as a “total hero” for his role in foiling the armed raiders.
“I remember Denis just shouting, ‘ye’re cowards, ye’re total cowards’,” Murphy said.
“Denis is a total hero and when I saw him taking one of them on he inspired me.
“I was just being threatened by the two fellas with the hammers, Denis tackled one of them and I said I have to tackle this fella now.
“I tried to grab the hammer but it was a total blur at the time,” Murphy added.
“Once they were taken on at all they totally backed down.”
Murphy said that O’Connor tripped one of the raiders up and then “booted him up the arse”. “It was fantastic,” he said.
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