More than a dozen police officers surround the the Pacific Avenue
store after the robber flees with cash, cigarettes and beef stew.
By BRIDGET MURPHY
Staff Writer, (609) 272-7257
ATLANTIC CITY — A robber forced two Pacific Avenue minimarket
workers into the bathroom Thursday but fled 
when police were
alerted that a gunman was inside the store.
It happened just
before 11:30 a.m. at Nelson Mini Market American-Spanish Grocery Store on
Pacific Avenue near the corner of Bellevue Avenue.
Police blocked
off the immediate area to pedestrians and cars for about 30 minutes. More
than a dozen officers responded to the call, some with K-9 dogs and others
with shotguns, including members of the department’s Emergency Response
Team.
“We conducted the operation as though we had a barricaded
suspect,” police spokesman Sgt. Michael Tullio said. “When we couldn’t
establish contact, we went in and made sure he wasn’t inside.”
No
one was injured. The robber, who stole $200 cash, Newport cigarettes and
Dinty Moore beef stew, was still at large Thursday evening. He is wanted
for armed robbery.
Police described him as a white male in his
40s, about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, wearing a white
T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He had a fresh cut on his right cheek and
appeared to have been drinking, according to authorities.
“It’s a
very bad incident. They’re very nice people. They give credit to people,”
said Demaynta Gamdie, 45, who owned the market until last month.
Store owner Rajnikant Patel, 21, and his sister-in-law, Nimisha
Patel, 19, were working when the robber walked into the market. After
grabbing cigarettes and stew, he motioned that there was a gun under his
T-shirt and came over the counter.
“He said, ‘Just give me all the
money you have in the counter,’ ” Rajnikant Patel said. “We gave him all
the money. A customer was walking in and asked what was going on. He just
ran out and called the cops.”
The robber then forced the Patels
into the restroom and closed the door behind them. About a minute later,
the victims emerged and found the store’s front door locked. They fled
onto Pacific Avenue and locked the door behind them, according to
authorities.
“We came out and the cop was there,” Rajnikant Patel
said.
Emilio Hernandez, 41, and Luis Garcia, 31, were two of
several dozen people who gathered on nearby street corners after police
blocked off the area with yellow tape.
“I just saw a man go inside
and I didn’t see no more,” said Hernandez, who was working at a nearby
construction project.
Garcia said he had gone into the store
shortly before the incident.
“It was fine this morning around
10:30, 11,” Garcia said. “I bought an aluminum pan and a pack of
cigarettes.”
The incident marks at least the fourth time a city
minimarket has been robbed this year.
In March, two California
Avenue market owners outsmarted a saw-wielding suspect by fleeing from the
Sunshine Mini-Market and locking the robber inside.
Police are
asking anyone who knows the identity of the Pacific Avenue robber to call
Detective Kevin Burrows at (609) 347-5766 or Atlantic County Crime
Stoppers at 1 (800) 658-TIPS.
Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous
information and offers rewards for tips leading to convictions.
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