A California police officer was able to stop a robbery in progress due to impeccable timing, police said. 

West Covina Police Department, in a post on Instagram, said that one of their officers was in the “right place at the right time” when a robbery occurred at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Friday night.

A 48-year-old man entered a 7-Eleven in West Covina, about 19 miles east of Los Angeles and went up to the counter to purchase a pack of cigarettes around 8:30 p.m., waiting for the employee to hand over the cigarettes before showing the weapon, police said. 

The robbery is captured in the 39-second clip below, from the moment the man walks into the 7-Eleven all the way up until the officer chases him out of the store.

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Watch the clip here

As the employee began to bag the cigarettes, the man lifts his sweatshirt to show him the firearm, telling the employee to open the register.

The employee punches in the register, taking about $400 from the drawer and placing it in the bag. The officer walks into the store after the interaction is over. 

“Once the employee places all the money into the bag, the suspect gathers the bag, at which point Sergeant Hernandez enters the store by coincidence,” according to the West Covina Police Department's Instagram post. 

As the man begins to move away from the register, the employee gestures to the officer to alert him of the robbery. 

The officer chased the man out of the store, arresting him outside. The man faces charges related to robbery, possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon. The cash was also returned to the store.

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