COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A customer subdued a robber with a 2-pound sledgehammer at a Columbus pizza shop Saturday night, WCMH reported.

A ski-masked gunman attempted to rob Stoney's Pizza on Lockbourne Road. As cashiers fled to a cooler, the armed man demanded that all of the customers drop to the floor. Witnesses said the man searched an office for money, but couldn't open a register. That's when he tried to get away.

"He already had tape on his license plate. He had it blacked out," customer J.R. Croy said. "The door was open and the van was running. He was on his way out."

Surveillance cameras then showed the quick thinking of Croy (pictured, right). He slipped out a back door and used his truck to block the robber. He then used a sledgehammer to subdue him.

"I was sitting here with the hammer, and he pointed the gun up at me," Croy said.

A Franklin County sheriff's deputy determined later that it was only a paintball gun, but Croy didn't take any chances.

"After hitting him in the head with a hammer four times, he wouldn't go down," Croy said.

Emergency crews reponded. The robber was handcuffed and hospitalized. The pizza shop gave Croy a $500 reward. He said he would use the money to pay some bills.

"After hitting him in the head with a hammer four times, he wouldn't go down." - J.R. Croy, customer

"I'm sure others in the store, if they had that opportunity, would've done it," Croy said. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt that way."

Croy said he would return to Stoney's to keep an eye on the place.

Witnesses said they saw the suspect's minivan at the shop before. The incident is being investigated, and the robber may face aggravated robbery charges, Tate reported.

Authorities do not encourage people to confront would-be criminals.

Workers said this was the first robbery at Stoney's in 10 years.