Starbucks robber’s mom takes to national TV to defend her son

The mother of the man who tried to rob a Starbucks in Fresno but ended up getting stabbed by a customer has taken to national TV to continue defending her son.

And Pamela Chimenti did it with attitude on CNN’s Headline News.

Cregg Jerri was called a “courageous hero” by Fresno police for thwarting the July 21 robbery attempt by Michael Ryan Flores. Jerri suffered a slash on his neck and required six staple stitches to close the wound.

Flores admitted in a jailhouse interview with The Bee that he was in the wrong during the July 21 robbery gone bad at the coffee shop near Herndon Avenue and Highway 99.

But Flores’ parents, Chimenti and Mark Flores, say Jerri’s actions were a clear case of excessive force, that Flores nearly died in the emergency room (allegedly from injuries suffered in his clash with Jerri), and that Jerri should be charged with committing a more serious offense than their son.

Wednesday night on the the HLN show Primetime Justice, Chimenti told host Ashleigh Banfield that she questions how Jerri was injured: “It could’ve been when he was wielding the knife 17 times at my son.”

Security video shows the robbery unfold from start to finish.

Flores approaches the counter with a Transformer mask on, pointing what turned out to be a fake gun but a real knife at the cashier.

Jerri approaches Flores from behind and smacks a chair over his head.

The two get tangled up and Flores eventually gets wrestled to the floor.

When Banfield asked if Chimenti was considering suing Jerri, the mother said, “Not my choice. I’m not going to be the one who files a lawsuit.”

“Who’s going to file the lawsuit?” Banfield asked.

“Gee, who got injured?” Chimenti replied. “My son.

“Before you report stuff, do you homework. Get the facts right.”

And that set off Banfield.

“I would say, ‘Before you pick up a knife and a gun and put on a mask and menace society, do you homework. You could get hurt. Doesn’t that make sense?

“Doesn’t it make sense that your damn son could’ve really hurt somebody?”

The two continued to try to talk over each other. Banfield concluded: “Saving your own life from a knife-wielding crazed man. You think that’s excessive force?

“I think the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Good luck, Mrs. Chimenti, with your damn lawsuit. I hope you lose.”

Chimenti chimed back one more time: “It’s not my lawsuit. I have no intentions of suing.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Starbucks robber’s mom takes to national TV to defend her son."