An armed robber got a surprise when he tried to target an Army veteran and ended up getting slammed into the pavement, according to Georgia police.

Gwinnett County Police officers said they responded to the incident early Friday morning at a gas station on Buford Drive.

'I leaned back and I grabbed him by his head and slammed him on the ground.'

Rusty Fields told WSB-TV that the altercation began when he pulled into the gas station over a flat tire and a man approached him asking for help and saying he was stranded.

"Look, I got problems of my own," Fields said he told the man.

That's when he said he felt a gun in his back, and the man forced him to get on his knees.

“I could still feel that pushed into my back so he took my keys out of my pocket,” he added.

Unfortunately for Fields, he had a bank envelope in his pocket with $12,000 in it. When the man found the envelope, Fields says that his army training kicked in.

“The one I didn’t want him to get was that bank envelope in my other pocket,” he continued. “I leaned back and I grabbed him by his head and slammed him on the ground."

Fields said he then told the man, "Now you empty your pockets!"

Before he could get his envelope back, the man ran off onto Interstate 985.

Fields said he called police, and Gwinnett County police officers from the North Precinct responded from nearby. They said they were able to pick up 28-year-old Johnny Roque, who allegedly had Fields' money in his possession. He was arrested for armed robbery.

He said he was so appreciative of the officers' response that he took down the names of the eleven who helped him.

“I couldn’t believe how coordinated they were,” Fields said. “They were there in a flash and had him within 30 minutes.”

The interview with Fields can be viewed on WSB-TV's report on YouTube.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!