Taking a bullet at 68

By ANDREA FURLONG

Former Williamsburg resident Stan Romberg, 68, grips the arm he took a bullet in during an attempted hold-up of a convenience store in Ocala, Fla., March 21. "Courtesy of Ocala Star-Banner"

Two young robbers packing pistols. One unarmed senior citizen and clerk. Three seconds to react.

It sounds like a formula for disaster, unless you’re former Williamsburg resident Stanley Romberg.

Romberg, 68, entered an Ocala, Fla., gas station the night of March 19 with the intention of driving his friend, 21-year-old store clerk Upasana Pathak, home. Pathak lived about two blocks from the convenience store, but did not have a car, so Romberg, concerned for her safety, made the short drive from his home to the convenience store every night she worked.

“I did not like the idea of having her walk in the dark at 11 at night,” he said.

Romberg had only been at the gas station for about 15 minutes when two men dressed in dark clothes and black stocking hats covering all but their eyes bolted into the store at 10:30 p.m.

 “All of a sudden I just looked and I could see across the store a guy who came in on a dead run,” Romberg said.

In two steps after getting in the door, one man jumped over the clerk’s counter, putting him within inches of the clerk and the cash register.

“He had a gun in one hand and his other hand stuck out like he was going to grab (Upasana) by the throat,” he said.

Armed greed met reflexes that had not been awakened in Romberg since his days in the military over 40 years ago. Romberg charged at one of the would-be robbers from the side. The armed robber was slowed, while Romberg was briefly knocked to the floor. Romberg was instantly back on his feet, chasing the robber out from behind the counter.

As he made his way around product displays in the store, the robber whirled around, lifted his gun and fired a bullet straight into Romberg’s left arm. Romberg ignored the wound and ran at the two robbers until they were out of the store. The robbers escaped, but without cash and without killing anyone.

In just 13 seconds the senior citizen had taken on the two armed robbers and won. Romberg shrugs the “hero” title, attributing his reaction to instinct.

“Many have asked me why, and I told them, ‘It was just instinct.’ You just didn’t have time to think,” he said.

Romberg said a need to protect his young friend was what sparked the instinct.

“My first thoughts were: The way he was holding the gun I thought he was going to go after the girl and was going to kill her right there,” he said. “The thought never went through my mind whether I had a chance. I didn’t think she had a chance unless somebody helped her.”

Though he said part of his reaction included tactics and attempts at tactics he learned in the military, Romberg said it was mainly good fortune that no one was killed.

“There’s no guarantee (if) I would have stood there and given them the money whether they wouldn’t have put a bullet in both of us,” he said. “Naturally, (it was) a lot of luck but I think it was the element of surprise. Sometimes even at 70, you get to thinking you’re still 30 and 40, but there’s an obvious difference. It wasn’t skill,” he said.

Romberg insists his actions were nothing out of the ordinary because he “just did what I thought needed to be done,” but the public isn’t buying that, judging from the amount of media coverage Romberg has received since his surprising feat. The story has made several Florida newspapers, area TV stations, ABC news and the surveillance video is posted on www.youtube.com.

Even Romberg’s daughter, Brenda Koehler, is astounded at her father’s reaction.

“In some ways he thinks that’s just what anyone would do and I don’t know that I could have done that. He didn’t even hesitate,” she said.

For a man who kept a low profile, living with and taking care of his 95-year-old parents in the town of approximately 50,000 people, Romberg is genuinely surprised at the number of people who now know him by name

“I am astounded at the people who’ve seen a picture in the paper that comment on it. It was covered a little more than what I realized. If (I) go out to eat, it seems like someone in a restaurant will recognize (me),” he said.

Romberg insists his 15 minutes of fame have not changed him at all, other than making him examine public safety more closely.

“I want to get the message out to anybody that if they can look about their home or store, they can make it safer. I definitely don’t want to be considered a hero or anything like that. I just want to try to help,” he said, adding he is working with the Ocala Police Department to find ways to step up safety in the area.

Romberg lived in the Williamsburg area during part of his 50-year career in the agricultural business. He grew up in rural Kinross and is a 1957 graduate of Kinross High School. He moved to Ocala, Flor., six years ago to take care of his parents.

He will be featured on the show “Most Daring” airing Wednesday, April 29, at 8 p.m. on truTV. Previously aired episodes can be viewed at http://www.trutv.com/shows/most_daring/index.html.

Pathak could not be reached for comment by the Journal Tribune.

UPDATED April 30, 2009 4:33 PM