LAWRENCE, Ind. - A Lawrence police officer was in the right place at the right time to thwart a gas station robbery Tuesday night, police said.

The Rickers station at 9235 E. 56th St. was held up just after 11 p.m. by a man who asked for cigarettes and then pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded cash, police said.

Just as the man was leaving with the cash drawer in hand, a Lawrence officer in full uniform was walking up to the store, surveillance video shows.

The officer said he noticed a man hurrying toward the exit and then saw that the clerk had her hands up in the air.

The officer pulled his gun, ordered the robber to the ground and arrested the man.

Police said the robber was later identified as Hliafi Derricott, 26, who was wanted on warrant on suspicion of carrying a handgun without a license.

Derricott was arrested on preliminary charges of robbery, criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm and carrying a handgun without a license.

Police recovered three packs of stolen Newport cigarettes and an undisclosed amount of cash.