In what’s some fantastic news for both HTC and anyone who keeps their cellphone in their shirt pocket, a Florida gas station attendant’s life was saved when his dearly departed smartphone became a martyr during a recent holdup.

Yesterday morning at 4:45AM in an Orlando suburb, a man entered a gas station, showed the working clerk his revolver, and demanded he open the safe. When the clerk was unable to do so, the robber instructed the second clerk to make an (also unsuccessful) attempt. Deciding to flee in the wake of his failure, the suspect fired a round “at one of the clerks” on his way out the door.

The attendant, who surely thought he was still in shock, didn’t even realize the cellphone had intercepted the bullet until he pulled it out of his shirt pocket. Chances are, few have ever been quite as happy as this man was to see a smartphone screen shattered beyond repair. [APvia Digg]

 Bullet-Stopping Cellphone Saves Gas Station Clerk Held at Gunpoint.