A Las Vegas motel clerk is speaking out after being held at gunpoint by a criminal with an impressive vertical leap.
The entire encounter was caught on the office surveillance system.
In the video you can see Joe Kelly acting normally as a man walks in to the Desert Moon Motel on Fremont Street Near Eastern Avenue
Kelly says he thought the man was a regular customer and can be heard on the surveillance video addressing him as he walks in the door.
"He said, yes you can help me, you can give me all your money,” Kelly said.
At this point you can clearly see the man, wearing a hoodie, pull a gun out and aim it toward Kelly, ho appears calm.
"I didn't think it was real at first. He didn't look comfortable with it, it was way out here and it was in his left hand. It didn't look right,” Kelly said.
Then the would be robber leaps on top of the front counter that is about five feet off the ground.
The man is then seen waving the gun in Kelly’s face again, with the clerk saying he was demanding cash from the back.
"This is it, right here. This is where I make my stand,” Kelly said.
Kelly told 13 Action News there were two other people sleeping in the back rooms, so he decided to continue blocking the way.
The clerk then flashes a bag at the man, Kelly recalling it was an empty bag of penny rolls.
“He cocked his head and looked at me funny and got down and left,” Kelly said.
The clerk said he then did something he now considers stupid, running out the door after the would-be robber.
"I was hoping to get a picture of the car, a plate number or something,” Kelly said.
Police say the investigation remains open.
Six weeks after the attempted holdup, the suspect remains free.
Detectives are still working the case.
Kelly is still so shaken, he couldn’t stand to watch the video he provided to 13 Action News.
Despite the trauma he says if it happened again, he probably would do the same thing.
“It don't think I would change anything. I'd probably be calling myself stupid the next time,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he hasn’t spoken with detectives since the initial report was taken on April 16th, but he is hoping to touch base in the coming days.
He also hopes the video being public will help police catch the suspect.
