Friday, August 17, 2007

San Pablo, California

From the August 17, 2007 Contra Costa Times:
A robber shot by a guard during a heist attempt at a San Pablo grocery store on August 10 remains on the lam, police said Thursday.

Detectives suspect that he and his compatriots may have robbed other Food Maxx stores in the East Bay this summer. They do not know whether he died, sought medical help outside the region or simply spent his week hiding and suffering.

Police ask anyone who knows where he went to call, both for his sake and theirs.

"It was a point-blank shot. It struck him in the shoulder," San Pablo Police Detective David Hoff said. "I'm sure it was extremely painful."

The unidentified man and another suspect, 41-year-old Oakland resident James Jones, walked into the San Pablo Avenue Food Maxx about 8 p.m. last Friday wearing sunglasses and caps, police said.

Surveillance camera footage shows they spent 12 to 15 minutes "shopping" before the unidentified suspect grabbed a bag of snack food and headed for a register, with Jones close behind him.

They apparently did not know that loss-prevention workers had spotted them the moment they walked through the door, Hoff said. Moments after the man leaned over the counter and grabbed a wad of cash from the register's till, the store called police, and its private security guards closed in.

...

A guard with his gun drawn met the two men as they exited into the parking lot and grabbed the man with the cash by the shoulder, Hoff said.

In response, the robber reached into his waistband. The guard saw he was about to pull out a handgun, and fired twice. One of the rounds definitely hit the robber, who threw down his weapon and cash and jumped into a waiting, dark-colored Honda or Toyota, Hoff said.

Police arrived soon after and arrested Jones, whom store security detained. The weapon thrown down by the missing robber turned out to be a realistic-looking pellet gun.

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