Viewers of a late-night cable TV program called police when they realized that instead of Shopping Mania they were hearing an attempted robbery. Two men were later arrested.
Gary Spirito, who runs the auction program out of a rented warehouse, said viewers heard the robbers off camera demanding the keys to a car after they invaded the building late on Thursday. The viewers caught a glimpse of at least one of them as they left, Spirito said.
"We were on air and talking to the folks out there, and then I heard a noise and there was a man there pointing a gun at us, me and the other operator," Spirito said.
"We had a computer screen up at the time showing the bids, but (the viewers) could hear the audio."
The men fled when police were summoned by viewers, but officers caught up with the two suspects. Eddie Crisp Jr., 23, and Timothy Suggs, 22, were both on parole for prior theft and other convictions, said police spokesman Sgt. Jarrard Copeland.
At the time the show was interrupted, viewers were bidding on a tent, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. blanket, metal candle holders and other items, Spirito said. But neither man seemed interested in getting anything but a vehicle.
"They came to get a car from us. They didn't ask for anything else," he said. "He said, 'Give me your car keys.' And I said 'Well, they're out there in the car.'"
{{/usCountry}}"They came to get a car from us. They didn't ask for anything else," he said. "He said, 'Give me your car keys.' And I said 'Well, they're out there in the car.'"
{{/usCountry}}Copeland said police believe the two also tried to rob a car lot about an hour before they walked into the Shopping Mania warehouse. At Legacy Motors, two men with a gun threatened an employee and the employee fled, he said.