Debbi Ruth describes herself as “a tough old bird.” She proved how tough she can be last week when she chased an accused armed robber out of her store and down Butler’s Main Street.

But Ruth, 53, owner of Ruffles and Truffles children’s clothing store, displays a remarkably tender side, too.

Ruth testified Monday in the courtroom of District Judge Pete Shaffer that she was working alone Sept. 16 when a woman less than half her age entered the store with a hand behind her back. The woman, Jessica M. Roberts, 24, told Ruth she had a knife and demanded the store’s receipts, Ruth said.

But Ruth apparently is a good judge of character, too. She quickly realized Roberts’ heart wasn’t in it and decided to call her bluff.

“I told her, ‘You picked the wrong (expletive) woman to mess with,’” she said.

Ruth said she walked around the counter to confront Roberts, and Roberts fled the store — with Ruth right behind her, yelling to bystanders: “Stop her. Stop her.”

The store owner caught the would-be robber, who admitted her motive was drug money, Ruth said. Roberts’ attorney, public defender Charles Nedz, told Shaffer that he planned to seek drug rehabilitation treatment for his client.

Roberts remains in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail, awaiting trial on a charge of robbery.

No doubt, Debbi Ruth is a tough old bird. But she holds no ill will for Roberts and wishes her well, explaining her own family has experienced the pain of drug abuse and addiction.

And she’s offering more than hope to Roberts: “I want to help her. Once she gets out, I’ll give her a job at my store.”

That’s an extraordinary and visionary gesture. It’s an extreme example of turning the other cheek.

It also opens a whole new realm of possibility: If Roberts gets the drug rehab treatment her lawyer seeks for her, and a job offered by Ruth, she’s more likely to get the benefit of probation from the court and avoid prison. As a result, she becomes a contributing member of the community rather than a burden on taxpayers.

How many drug offenders undergoing rehabilitation could benefit from the sponsorship of a local merchant?

Of course it’s not that simple. It never is. The temptations of drug addiction don’t go away overnight. Neither do drug dealers, or old friends with old habits.

Not all businesses lend themselves to second-chance or third-chance employment. And an admitted few merchants have the temperament to supervise. It takes a special kind of person. It takes a tough old bird — someone like Debbi Ruth.