UPDATE: Metal Lion Stolen From Stockton Donut Shop Returned

STOCKTON (CBS13) - The statue of a lion that was stolen from the sidewalk in front of a donut shop in Stockton last week has been returned.

At around 5 a.m. Thursday, German Beltran, the night shift manager at Yum Yum Donuts, was helping a customer when he saw a man outside trying to take a large statue of a robot. The man then tried to take a smaller lion statue made of metal sitting nearby.

"Me and this other guy were about to beat him up. 'What's your problem? Give me the lion back,' " said Beltran. "It's a pretty big lion, and then he's like 'you know what, I got a gun.' "

The suspect then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the two. Beltran and the customer backed off and let the suspect take the lion.

"Just see my life flash before my eyes, I didn't think it was going to be that extravagant. It was pretty rough," Beltran said.

The suspect then drove off with the lion, but not before Beltran was able to get a good look at the license plate number to tell police.

On Monday, Beltran called CBS13 to report the statue had been brought back to the store by someone who had purchased it from someone else who'd purchased it.