Denton police say they believe a clerk at the Pizza Patron when she says she didn’t know her husband and parents planned to rob her workplace Friday night.

“The man came in and said, ‘Give me the money,’ and I was getting it,” said Stephanie Martinez in a telephone interview Monday. “And then [the other clerk] hit him and knocked him out and knocked off his wig and I dropped the money. I said, ‘Don’t hit him again! That’s my dad!’ And he said ‘What’s he doing here?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know!’”

According to police, the suspect ran out of the pizza restaurant in the 100 block of East University Drive, but witnesses followed the getaway pickup — with Stephanie Martinez’s husband at the wheel and her mother in the passenger seat — until officers caught up with them.

“We believe her and will not be filing charges against her,” said police Sgt. James Brett. “Her husband told us she didn’t know. He knew they were going to rob someplace, but he thought it was going to be a convenience store.”

A man came into the restaurant about 10:25 p.m. pointing a silver pistol that turned out to be a toy gun, according to the police report. He demanded money from the male clerk, who refused. The robber slapped the clerk several times, and the clerk hit him with his fist, knocking him out briefly and knocking a wig and a pair of sunglasses from his face.

Jose Miguel Martinez

Benjamin Ramirez

A surveillance video shows the female clerk grabbing the male clerk to keep him from hitting the suspect again. Then she let go and the suspect jumped up and ran from the restaurant.

A witness saw the disturbance and called 911 while following the suspect on foot. He saw him jump into the back of a black pickup.

The driver of a car saw what was happening and followed the pickup, relaying its location to police. Officers stopped the truck and had three people in custody within 14 minutes of the robbery, according to the report.

Sonia Palacios

Jose Miguel Martinez, 26, is charged with aggravated robbery and is free on $50,000 bail.

Benjamin Ramirez, 41, and Sonia Palacios, 38, are both charged with aggravated robbery. Bail was set at $50,000 each, but they are being held without bail on immigration violations.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com .