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When Nancy Stowe saw robbers beating her grandson and son at the gas station, she jumped into action, just as she had many times before.
The 75-year-old woman is being credited for scaring the robbers off before they could do additional damage during an attempted robbery Thursday night.
Two men asked Stowe's grandson for money. He told them he didn't have any. One of the men saw his wallet and attacked him, forcing him to the ground.
“It dawned on me, ‘They are trying to actually rob him,’” Stowe said.
Doug Stowe jumped in the save his son, but the robbers turned the tables on him.
That's when Nancy Stowe spoke up.
“I said ‘Leave, and I mean right now.’ I think it was a natural instinct,” she said.
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And she would know the feeling: Nancy Stowe was one of the few female officers to patrol the streets of Belmont, North Carolina, in the 1970s. She also worked with the county Sheriff's Department and the Police Department in Coats, North Carolina. Instructors taught her to stand tall and speak with authority.
"I didn't have a weapon at all," Nancy Stowe said. "I just got in between them. I said, 'Oh, no you don't.' I said, 'That's enough of this.'"
She had left her cellphone in the car, but she told reporter Ken Lemon she cupped her hand and pretended she still had it.
"I pointed at it and said, 'I've already called 911,'" Nancy Stowe said.
The robbers ran and she shouted at them as they left.
"I said, 'And don't try it no more tonight!'" Nancy said.
Her son and grandson are nursing their injuries. Both said they are glad she was there. Police are investigating and hope surveillance video will help them identify the two men.
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