Gunman holds up grocery

BY JULIE BENAMATI
The Tribune-Democrat

NORTHERN CAMBRIA August 18, 2008 11:26 pm

— Police are reviewing videotapes from a local grocery store’s security camera in an effort to find the man who robbed cashiers at gunpoint on Sunday afternoon.
“We have a tape that we are reviewing, and it’s going to be enhanced,” Northern Cambria police Sgt. Dave Hassen said.
“We have a lot of people who saw (the suspect), and some said he looked familiar. But no one could place a name to the face.”
Hassen said the suspect was in his mid to late 20s, unshaven, wearing a plaid shirt, jean shorts, a dark-colored bandanna and sunglasses.
Ken Gibson of Johnstown, who bought the BiLo market along Betts Avenue less than a month ago, said people are shocked that “something like this could happen here.”
Even worse, Gibson said, was that the robber took action during broad daylight in front of a number of employees and patrons.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Sunday, a man walked through the store’s front doors and asked a clerk at the service desk if she could cash a payroll check for $500.
He then asked for the funds, and the clerk said she needed the check first.
“(The suspect) told her that she didn’t understand ... she was being robbed and he had a gun,” Gibson said. He credited the clerk for remaining calm and telling another clerk nearby to call 911.
“But more and more customers started showing up, and I guess he got impatient,” Gibson said. “He went to the express lane and demanded the money from the till. He got the money from the clerk’s till, but that’s all he got.”
He said Northern Cambria Borough police officers responded to the scene quickly, but the suspect was gone before they arrived.
“It happened very quickly,” Gibson said. “It was hectic for a while, but police got it under control real quick.”
He said the employees involved were shaken up, and he is thankful that no one was hurt.
“This is such a great town, and everyone is so friendly,” Gibson said of Northern Cambria.
“People are shocked that something like this would happen here. That’s the comment I’ve heard all day.”
He said the store remained open Sunday evening and also was open on Monday.
Anyone with information about the incident may call Northern Cambria police: 948-4884.