WTOL.com, Toledo's News Leader, News 11 | Store Clerk Turns The Table On Would-Be Crook

TOLEDO--A Toledo convenience store clerk turned the tables on a guy who wanted to rob his place. The clerk pulled a gun from behind the counter last weekend and the would-be robber left without any money.

News 11 found out that clerk is not alone. "Something' isn't right." That's what Sylvania Food Mart clerk Jeffery Smith thought when he saw a man acting strangely in the store on Saturday.

The guy pretended to have a gun in his pocket and told Smith to give him money, but Smith pulled out a real gun from behind the counter instead. "When he seen the gun his eyes got real big and I said 'Now...let's see what you know," Smith told us.

The crook ran away. Smith said if he didn't have that gun, he would have had to give up the cash but, "9 times out of 10 these thieves now a days they don't have no mercy even if you cooperate...you see they get shot...people get shot and that...just like the lady over there."

He's referring to Tamara's carryout in north Toledo in January where robbers shot and killed 47 year-old Misada Shulan. Smith said there needs to be a change. "We gotta come up with somethin' better," Smith told News 11. "Some kind of solution so there's not so much crime like this going on," he added.

Some owners have their own solution. We did a survey of stores in north, west and central Toledo. We talked with a dozen carry outs or convenience stores where workers told us at least half of them have a gun and or a weapon.

Some have more than one. Why? "Your back's against the wall," said Smith. Smith went on to tell us he feels a little safer with a gun around and he wants the message to hit home with criminals.

"I hope they learn they better expect the unexpected because we're getting tired of this too," Smith said. We asked Smith if the new concealed carry law in Ohio will help store clerks. He said it would permit more people to have them.

That could help with the un-expected factor he talked about earlier. Toledo's police Chief Mike Navarre said he teaches small business owners not to have a gun.

He told News 11 he wants owners to comply with criminals because anytime you have more guns in a tense situation, the better the chance of people getting shot and it's just not worth it. Chief Navarre also said even though it puts a smile on his face when a robbery is thwarted, he never encourages people to have a gun handy in their store.

Posted 06/15/04 at midnight by amannes@wtol.com