September 2, 2019

The coolest man in the world smokes.



That guy is Tony Tovar, who afterwards said he figured the guy just wanted drug money and wouldn't hurt him. Celebrated on the internet, Tovar advises: "It’s probably not in your best interest if they have a loaded firearm, I wouldn’t suggest that to just anybody."

65 comments:

gilbar said...

i'd say, continuing to sit still & smoke your cig: good idea
continuing to play with your phone: Suicidal

David Begley said...

You can smoke in bars in Missouri?

Armed robbers get no respect.

Ann Althouse said...

Why did the thief try to grab the phone out of smoking man's hand when there was another phone (obvious and lit up) right there on the bar? That suggests he wasn't going for whatever was easiest and that the smoking man was aggravating him. Fighting to keep his phone was the most impressive part of smoking man's (would-be) last stand.

Amadeus 48 said...

Hmmmm... no way to make any sense of that video. What does lighting up mean to these two guys at the counter? One gave up his wallet, the other didn’t. The server looks terrified. What is our hero saying? I doubt he is taunting the gunman. Is he give him pointers? Is he doing Howard Cosell commentary? Is he saying crazy stuff?
There is more to this story.

AllenS said...

Maybe the gunman didn't have any bullets in the gun. Too cheap to buy ammo. Loser.

gspencer said...

Tovar and the "robber" shared the loot later that day.

gilbar said...

Our Professor asks...
Why did the thief try to grab the phone out of smoking man's hand when there was another phone (obvious and lit up)


This will come as a surprise to Most of you, but; there is a little known feature* on smart phones,
They can actually be used, to PHONE people; people like The Police
This is why i said that continuing to hold the phone was suicidal

little known feature* They can ALSO be used to take pictures of crimes, but you probably knew that

Fernandinande said...

Nope, doesn't look fake at all, nosirree Bob!

AllenS said...

gspencer said...
Tovar and the "robber" shared the loot later that day.

I also thought about that.

Nonapod said...

If someone points a gun at me I'll pretty much do whatever they want. I like living. Affecting a nonchalant air may look cool but it may also antagonize what could very well be an unstable individual. And resisting lie that is really rolling the dice. That person was just plain lucky.

Ann Althouse said...

Maybe Tovar didn't care if he died.

Some folks think: Live free or die.

Paul said...

I noticed there were plenty of times the gunman was looking in the other direction distracted... a Glock would have ended his career as a robber right there. The catch? Drinking and gun packing is a no-no.

And that is why in restaurants that serve booze I don't drink.. but I do pack.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Bet he's a Humphrey Bogart fan.

Wince said...

I wonder if Tovar's wallet says, "Bad Mother Fucker"?

"I hate to shatter your ego, but this ain't the first time I've had a gun pointed at me...

That's it. That's my Bad Mother Fucker."

Spiros said...

In Europe, the law and the media believe that only violent eccentrics engage in self-defense. Is there a little bit of that attitude here?

Michael K said...

"If you can keep your head when others around you are losing theirs, you simply don't understand the situation."

Bob Boyd said...

I don't think the robber wanted the phone. It was more like an exasperated mom grabbing her kid's phone so he'll pay attention to what she's saying.

Bob Boyd said...

"I wouldn’t suggest that to just anybody."

Translation: I was pretty drunk.

Leland said...

Why did the thief try to grab the phone out of smoking man's hand when there was another phone (obvious and lit up) right there on the bar?

He could have been texting the police. The other phones aren't doing that just sitting on the bar. The robber left him and the phone alone when he quit playing with the phone. Robber isn't going to take phone, because it can track him.

Mark said...

RT = Russian television

The collusion is back on.

William said...

He was smoking in an enclosed space. He's lucky he didn't get shot. He wouldn't try that shit in NYC. DeBlasio knows how to keep such degenerates in line.

Ralph L said...

I've had a long gun pointed at me while sitting in my car. I didn't move, either, because I figured the guy was just being an ass. There was also a witness.

Laslo Spatula said...

This happened to me in a bar in Modesto, California.

I was sitting with friends in a booth after work, back when you could smoke inside the bars.

I was drinking a gin-and-tonic and smoking a cigarette when two guys with guns came in. One was wearing a mask, the other wasn't, so you knew they didn't have their shit together from the start. That, and that they held their guns sideways, movie-gangsta style.

Everyone put up their hands per their request, and stopped looking at them, per another of their requests.

I took my wallet out and set it on the table; I figured if they wanted it I might as well have it out there ready for them. I also put up my hands, somewhat: I had my drink in one hand and my smoke in the other. I figured it didn't matter much what I did, so I might as well finish my drink and smoke while they tried to figure it out.

They put a gun in the face of the bartender, and asked her to put the money in a bag. Of course, it was a bar, not a store, so there were no bags. Eventually she found a small clear-plastic ziploc sandwich bag, and tried to put the money in it, but struggled with the fit and her nerves, so the robber shoved some bills down his pants.

Meanwhile, the other robber went table-to-table, taking wallets and jewelry. He looked at me with my drink and cigarette in the air, and I swear that -- for a moment -- he was going to ask for a cigarette from me. He left the table, never taking my wallet that was right in front of him.

They told everyone to stay seated, and then backed out the door, waving their guns back and forth; for a moment there was a better chance of one of them shooting the other than anyone else getting shot.

Of course, things are different now. You can't smoke in bars in California.

I am Laslo.

cacimbo said...

Tussling over a phone with an armed man is foolish not brave. I suspect Mr. Tovar was well past his first cocktail when this incident occurred.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Tovar looked to me like a local gangster who was signaling the robber, and the message was get on with it and don’t fuck with me. Especially the flaring lighter in between them, that was a meaningful moment they shared and robber-man decided he really should just finish up and GTFO.

buwaya said...

Having had guns pointed at me way more often than normal (a bit of an unconscious suicidal streak? Carelessness?), I think I understand my own feelings in this unusual (to a normal person) situation quite well.

It is a weirdly calm moment. But I cannot expect my body to behave.

Earnest Prole said...

He found it impossible to move due to the weight of his enormous balls.

Rosalyn C. said...

I'd say luckily the thief was very cool, too. The thief wasn't interested in phones or killing anyone, just cash. What would he do with someone else's phone anyway, aren't they kind of useless? When Tovar put his phone down and indicated he was totally not going to be a threat,that he just didn't want to lose his phone, he was left alone. Interesting how much mutual respect was communicated nonverbally. That took a lot of nerve. It might lead some to conclude they knew each other. Or that Tovar has highly developed intuition about people.

Yancey Ward said...

Isn't the obvious answer here that he was so drunk he couldn't have done anything other than look nonchalant?

Yancey Ward said...

And Wince beat me to it- my first thought was also Pulp Fiction.

Hannio said...

Both my grandfather (during the depression) and my mother in law (in the '80s) had gunmen try to rob them at gunpoint. Both of them resisted and lived to tell the story. My grandfather had picked up two hitchhikers (a male and a female) and at the end of the ride the male pulled out a pistol and demanded money. My grandfather (not noted for being an ornery cuss) pushed them both off the front seat and out the door and sped off.

My mother in law worked at a drug store in Houston and was counting the money at the end of the day when the door to her office burst open and two young men demanded the days proceeds. She refused and pushed them both out the door and called the police. The police arrested the two a short time later but the Houston DA declined to press charges because they were adolescents. My mother in law took them to civil court, won the case, and had them put in jail for ten years. She *was* known for being an ornery cuss. She grew up in Nuernberg in the '30's, so draw your own conclusions. They will probably be correct.

Fernandinande said...

When Tovar put his phone down and indicated he was totally not going to be a threat,that he just didn't want to lose his phone, he was left alone.

The "robber" grabbed at his phone but immediately gave up. I think a real robber would've clocked him in the head with the gun; the robber's behavior, not Tovar's, is what makes me think it's fake, until and unless they arrest somebody.

Ralph L said...

Is the black guy from Nigeria?

Rosalyn C. said...

I think the point was the robber didn't want the phone, he just didn't want Tovar to be calling 9-11. (The other phone was left on the counter as well.) Somehow that got communicated in person in the moment but is not something we can sense from the video.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Was an old saw back in the day, that you don't fuck with crazy. Maybe the gun wasn't real or loaded. Another old saw was, "anybody can quit smoking, but it takes a MAN to face lung cancer". YMMV

Anonymous said...

Earnest Prole said...
He found it impossible to move due to the weight of his enormous balls.


my thought as well, but you said it better. big brass ones

rcocean said...

So calm. Inside knowledge? Or maybe smoking indicates he was a "risk taker" who didn't care. I've been in dangerous situations and have always been too stupid to get scared or hysterical. but my overwhelming desire was to stay alive. So, I would've given the gunman anything he wanted.

rcocean said...

Go ahead and kill me, you'd be doing me a favor.

rcocean said...

Drunk = "Dutch courage". Another anti_German slur that goes unremembered because German American's don't whine like the Irish.

rcocean said...

Tovarich = Comrade.

Ann Althouse said...

I don't think calling 911 was an issue for the robber. He needed to act fast and get out. Confiscating a few phones would only slow him down, not make a significant difference in how soon the cops arrived. There were people all over the place and they all had phones.

iowan2 said...

I believe bike paths are the results of a UN driven policy for incentivizing bikes. Agenda 21??? The US DOT has implemented it into City street planning. If cities want fed matching funds, they are forced to add bike lanes

Charlie said...

"Not hard to spot the guy with a nagging wife:"-Jesse Kelly

Wince said...

He needed to act fast and get out. Confiscating a few phones would only slow him down, not make a significant difference in how soon the cops arrived.

Not to mention the GPS and "find-a-phone" apps being used to track him.

rehajm said...

The coolest man in the world smokes

Crash blossom.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

it will be Cigarettes, not armed robbers, who kill Tovar

rehajm said...

...from the makers of most sophisticated woman in the room ultra lights...

Rabel said...

In the unedited version the robber takes the bartender's phone and does indeed rob the patrons individually (except for Big Tony who the robber seems to dismiss as too drunk to bother with) as well as getting the bartender to open the register.

Watch Tony's hands. He drunk.

Fernandinande said...

Maybe the gun wasn't real or loaded.

That's another thing - it looks weird to me, like a scary-fake TV gun (can anyone ID it?), described as a "heavily modified pistol" but it's more like a carbine with no stock; regular hadnguns are used in around 80 to 90 of armed robberies, not big guns which are hard to hide.

reader said...

Seems like it’s either fake or he’s drunk. His shoulders and arms are too relaxed, like a drunk in a car accident, they don’t tense up.

Mark said...

The coolest man in the world did smoke and today's a good day to remember him -- Buddy Love.

I miss Jerry Lewis. Kids today are missing out on his annual tradition.

Mark said...

Don't forget that Fat Tony is a made guy. So he's untouchable.

bagoh20 said...

Compliance is no guarantee he won't shoot you. I've seen plenty of videos where the victim gives them what they want and they get executed anyway. Some people are just evil. The best approach in such a situation is to shoot the motherfucker first, then you don't have to trust your life to some obviously violent stranger.

bagoh20 said...

It could be fake, but it looks as real as any I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Some people are very cool in such situations, which is usually a mistake. You should get the hell out of there if you can. If you are no longer there, your life or death is no longer up to an asshole.

Tacitus said...

In this - as in sadly so little else - Laslo and I have something in common. Many years ago my wife and I, with our one month old sleeping in a car seat, were held up in a local establishment. This was in Minnesota so don't even start asking about concealed carry. I got under the table with dispatch and tossed my wallet out. The robbers never took it. It was empty anyway. I figure they got thrown off by the drowsy chap sleeping at the bar who they pushed to the floor using language that my kid would have heard for the first time had he been awake. A little funny but the same guys were on a bit of a spree. Something about a drug habit. A few weeks later they ran into a guy who did not take them seriously. They shot him dead.

For the rest of us life goes on.

TW

Blue@9 said...

Prob not fake.

Guys out robbing are not necessarily experienced criminals. This one prob had no intention of shooting anyone unless a gun was pulled. He probably did not think through "What do I do if someone refuses?"

I once was quasi-mugged by some "youths" late at night. They wanted my money. I lied and told them I didn't have any money. They were befuddled and ran off.


Also, this guy's name is Tony. I'm going to guess he's been around the block. He probably realized quickly that the robber wasn't going to shoot anyone.

Bob Boyd said...

Maybe Tony was in the 3rd stage of tequila intoxication.

The 4 stages are:
I'm rich.
I'm good looking.
I'm bullet proof.
I'm invisible.

FullMoon said...

A real world comment. As opposed to "I watch a lot of tv and movies" comments.

Guys out robbing are not necessarily experienced criminals. This one prob had no intention of shooting anyone unless a gun was pulled. He probably did not think through "What do I do if someone refuses?"

BUMBLE BEE said...

Front blade sight looks AK, but the barrel is way too short, and the forestock looks too bulky.

Rocketeer said...

That's another thing - it looks weird to me, like a scary-fake TV gun (can anyone ID it?)

I believe it's a Hi Point 995TS 9mm (or the same carbine in one of the different calibers they manufacture.

Also: Tovar's reaction wasn't brave. It was rash. He wasn't cowardly, but Tovar still failed to hit the Golden Mean of "brave."

Rocketeer said...

By the way? I viewed it again and it's definitely a Hi Point 995TS; typically holds a 10 round mag but he's got a 20 round mag in it.

MacMacConnell said...

The owner of the bar called into a local Kansas City talk radio program last week. He said the guy at the bar was a regular. The owner said, the patron told the robber something like, "I got a cunt for a wife and she makes my life miserable. Do me a favor and just shot me".

Ann Althouse said...

"'The coolest man in the world smokes'/Crash blossom."

Are you saying you read the headline and thought: I wonder where I can buy me some coolest-man-in-the-world smokes?

Ann Althouse said...

"The owner of the bar called into a local Kansas City talk radio program last week. He said the guy at the bar was a regular. The owner said, the patron told the robber something like, "I got a cunt for a wife and she makes my life miserable. Do me a favor and just shot me"."

That's what I said, above: "Maybe Tovar didn't care if he died."

As for "do me a favor," that's straight out of Casablanca. Bogart to Bergman (who's aiming a gun at him): "Go ahead and shoot.You'll be doing me a favor."

MacMacConnell said...

Seriously, I listened to the interview while waiting to picking up my niece's children at their Catholic school last Thursday.