ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – A St. Petersburg taxi driver was held up at gunpoint and lived to tell about it. Joseph Sylvia may have been staring down the barrel of a gun but he wasn’t about to give up his hard-earned cash.

It was a 6-minute cab ride that ended with a heart-pounding 60 seconds. Sylvia had to decide whether to hand over a few hundred bucks or turn the tables on the suspect,18-year-old Deandre Foster.

“He (Foster) pulls out the gun and cocks it. He pointed it at me and says, ‘Give me all your (money).’ He points the gun closer at me and says, ‘I’m gonna’ cap you,'” Sylvia told News Channel 8

Even with the threats and the gun right in his face, Sylvia said, “No.”

“And the look on his face when I told him no was priceless,” Sylvia recalls. “He was like, ‘What, what, what?’ Like he was in shock.”

There was no shock for Sylvia, though, as he leaned over and grabbed the gun. In the end, Foster went running.

Foster even left evidence behind. His took off with his wallet right on the street.

News Channel 8 reminded Sylvia police don’t recommend his type of response. “That’s cowardice,” he said. “If you get an opportunity to save yourself, you don’t wait. You don’t rely on the other guy’s good graces.”

He said he’d do the same thing again if he had to.

Foster is behind bars at the Pinellas County Jail on a bond of more than $150,000.

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