Store clerk stops robber with hammer

ANKENY, Iowa (CNN/KCCI) - A convenience store clerk in Ankeny, Iowa keeps a hammer by his side at work, but he never thought he'd have to use it for self-defense.

But it came in handy over the weekend when he was robbed at knifepoint.

"'I got a knife, and I want the money out of the cash register.' And I says, 'What did you say?' He repeated it, and the third time he repeated it, I hit him in the head with a hammer," said clerk Glen Zirbe. "I expected him to drop, but he didn't. Yeah, I hope he's got a headache."

Zirbe says he only used the rubber side of the hammer, but it worked. The would-be-thief ended up walking out empty-handed.

There are currently no suspects in the case.