Good Samaritan Gets Assaulted, Robbed

Wednesday, June 20th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

A 17-year-old girl has a sore head and some bruised ribs after chasing four people who ran out on their bill at a Tulsa IHOP restaurant. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports despite her best efforts the suspects got away, but she has quite a story to tell.

"We were coming in because it was my birthday,â€ robbery victim Julia Hughes said.

Julia was having a birthday breakfast at the IHOP at 31st and Memorial because several of her friends work there. She heard someone yell that four teenagers were running out without paying, so she gave chase through the parking lot, under the overpass, past a car dealership and to a Shell station where she caught them.

"I was like can you please go back to IHOP? My friend works there and he has to pay for this cause it comes out of the servers' paycheck every time someone dine and dashes. They said no," Hughes said.

Not only did the suspects run out on their check one punched Julia. They also grabbed her cell phone as she was calling 911 and took her money.

"I was on the phone and they grabbed it, and as they grabbed it they punched me,â€ she said. â€œThe other one walked behind me and took money out of my pocket. I'm a waitress and that was all my tips of the day."

Julia spent a few hours in the hospital on her birthday and got scolded by those who care about her, but she says she would do it all over again.

"Oh, of course," she said.

"How come?" News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright asked.

"Because I don't think its right to do that. Everyone who works here works really hard to have a good life," said Hughes.

Julia says they got the tag number of the vehicle, and there may be video of the suspects at the Shell station. Police say the suspects made a big mistake by hitting Julia and taking her money because that increased the crime from a running out on the tab larceny to felony robbery.