Armed thug steals cash from Kentucky Fried Chicken. But when he demands employee’s phone, brave worker refuses to back down.

Markell Hitchings — a 21-year-old cook for a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Florissant, Missouri — had an unsettling notion going through his mind when the restaurant was just getting underway for business Monday morning.

Hitchings told KSDK-TV his concerns were sparked after he noticed a male dressed in black.

‘I was never afraid at all.’

“I thought he was a regular customer just going to the bathroom and leaving,” Hitchings explained to the station.

But he recalled something else to KSDK: “I had it back in my mind that he was going to try to do something.”

Turns out Hitchings’ unsettling concerns were spot on.

“He came back there behind our counter, and it all started from there. At the time, he was asking my manager for money. She dropped to the floor. I told her to give him the money because I didn’t want her to get hurt,” Hitchings recalled to KSDK.

Employees told the station that after the robber got the cash, he ran out the front door and around to the back of the business.

Except Hitchings also was out back, KSDK said.

“He asked me for my cell phone, and I didn’t give him my phone — and we got to tussling around in back by the drive-thru,” Hitchings recalled to the station.

Hitchings told KSDK that he and the robber fought for several minutes as the suspect’s gun flew out of his hand.

“I was screaming for help because I was losing adrenaline,” Hitchings noted to the station.

Nevertheless, the courageous cook still had plenty of strength left.

“Once I had him in a chokehold, I’m on his back,” Hitchings recalled to KSDK. “He grabbed rocks and tried to smash them over my head, but it didn’t work.”

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Soon employees at a neighboring business called 911, the station said, adding that Hitchings held down the suspect — Tamon Sleet — until police arrived and arrested him.

Police added that officers recovered a stolen firearm that was used during the robbery, as well as currency taken from the business.

Police told KSDK that Sleet tried to strangle a ride-share driver in north St. Louis County several days before the KFC robbery — and Hitchings added to the station he’s grateful that he, his manager, and the ride-share driver all survived.

“It all just happened so fast. I know it was dangerous. I wouldn’t advise anyone to do that. I was never afraid at all. Honestly, I thank God that it all played out the way it did,” Hitchings noted to KSDK.

The station said Sleet faces multiple charges in both cases, including assault, armed criminal action, and vehicle hijacking.

KSDK said he remained jailed Thursday night on a $250,000 cash-only bond.

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