Local News - August 2003

Would-be robbers pick wrong clerk

Published August 1, 2003

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

NEWTON — When two Lincolnton men and a Newton woman decided to rob a convenience store Monday, they hadn’t planned on the cashier taking it personally.

Lt. Bruce Prestwood of the Newton Police Department gave this account:

Jonathan Thompson, 22, and Jason Shuford, 21, both of Lincolnton, and Kimberly Barr, 20, of Newton went to The Pantry on N.C. 10 in Newton at around 5 p.m. Monday.

Shuford, holding a knife, and Barr, armed with a box cutter, walked into the store and told the clerk it was an armed robbery.

Barr had worked at the store before and thought she knew the store’s policies on armed robberies — do what they ask and hand over the money.

But the 24-year-old cashier on duty didn’t feel the same way.

“He evidently had not read the policy,” Prestwood said.

Instead of handing over the cash, the clerk grabbed a hammer and went after the would-be robbers.

Shuford fled, but Barr wasn’t quick enough.

The cashier grabbed Barr — all 5 feet and 89 pounds of her — and dragged her back into the store.

He held her there and dialed 911.

That’s when one of the men burst back into the store with a baseball bat.

The cashier let Barr go, because “you don’t take a hammer to a baseball bat fight,” Prestwood said.

By that time, Newton Police were on the way, and the three suspects were stopped a short distance down the road.

Both Thompson and Shuford cooperated with authorities, Prestwood said.

All three have been charged with armed robbery.

There were no customers in the store at the time, and the cashier walked away with no injuries.

“He pretty much came out on top,” Prestwood said. “They just picked the wrong young man. He just sort of took offense to it.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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