Homeless man stops robber

STOCKTON, Calif. - A homeless man is being hailed a hero after coming to the rescue of a clerk who was about to be robbed, for the second time in a week.

Tuyet Tran said she's too afraid to come back to work.

She said the gunman who she describes as hispanic with a ponytail drove up to this gas station with two females in a red toyota pick up truck.

Tran said even before he threatened her with a gun, she knew something wasn't right.

She said the man seemed drunk and had urinated on some firewood outside the store.

"So I tell my homeless friend, Steve, 'cause he was inside the store with me, to kick the cone close so we can shut the door."

That odd behavior was enough for tran to take action.

The mother of three had been robbed just two weeks before.

On Monday, Tran was again staring at the barrel of a gun

"The guy comes in he has the gun out and he says, give me all my money."

With a gun in her face for the second time in two weeks, Tran went behind the register while her friend Steve smith, a homeless man who has been keeping her company since she was robbed weeks ago, moved by the door.

"I didn't know what to do. And here's steve over by the door."

Smith then grabbed the fire extinguisher next to the door.

What he did next may have saved her life.

" I was able to finally pull the pin out of the fire extinguisher and squirt him" he said.

Grateful, yet concerned, Tran asked Smith why he put his life on the line.

"I asked Steve you know, why did you do that you could have gotten hurt. You know, he could have shot you. And he told me, 'because you have kids'."