FedEx delivery man thwarts potential jewelry store robbery



CEDARBURG -- Patty Gallun-Hansen feared for her life Wednesday morning, when a man walked into her antique jewelry store in downtown Cedarburg and wouldn't leave. The man hinted he was going to rob the place, and then the FedEx delivery guy walked in. Now, some say this delivery man who was in the right place at the right time should be called a hero.

Gallun-Hansen says she walked into the store Wednesday morning and didn't lock the door behind her, though typically, the store is only open when there is more than one person working. As her luck would have it, a man walked into the store, acting very strange. "He was referencing Ron Howard, and how he and Ron Howard were good friends. It just went on and on," Gallun-Hansen said. Gallun-Hansen said the man's words went from strange to scary in a matter of minutes, after he said "I never did steal when I lived on the street," and then Gallun-Hansen said the man put his hands in his pocket, and wouldn't leave.

Gallun-Hansen said she feared the worst for the next 30 minutes, until Rob Kaegi, a FedEx delivery man pulled up to deliver a package. Kaegi says he didn't know what was going on, until Gallun-Hansen signed her name for the package, along with the word "help." "She gave me a kind of look when I handed her the scanner, like her eyes were really jetting out at me, like she was trying to communicate something to me," Kaegi said.

When he got back to his truck and took a look at his scanner, he called police, and within minutes, officers arrived. The officers escorted the man out of the jewelry store, and Cedarburg police say the man was mentally unstable. Officers gave him a warning, and he was told if he shows up again, he will be arrested for trespassing. It was a crisis averted, and Gallun-Hansen says she's thankful her distress call was answered, even though she didn't have to say a word. "The stars were aligned, and I guess I was just meant to be here at this place, at this place in time," Kaegi said.

An interesting note: the package Kaegi delivered on Wednesday was actually expected Tuesday, but the store was closed, so he came back a day later, and was able to intervene on this potentially dangerous situation.