Armed suspect robs Indian-origin man's store in US, flees with cash

New York, Oct 9

Police are on the lookout for an armed suspect who robbed a store owned by an Indian-origin man in the US state of Virginia and fled with cash, a media report said.

Shyamal Patel's Smokies Lounge smoke shop on Woods Edge Road was robbed at around 5 a.m. on Sunday when the suspect pointed a gun at the clerk, demanding cash, WRIC TV channel reported.

The Chesterfield County Police Department said the masked suspect wore a grey hoodie, dark pants, black shoes, and fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

"A male with an unknown race, about 5 feet and 6 inches tall with a medium build," police said.

Patel told the channel that this was not the first time that his store was robbed at gunpoint.

Earlier this year in April, two armed men robbed the store and fled with an unknown amount of cash, Patel said, adding that the men have since been arrested with the efforts of local police.

He suspects that in the most recent robbery, the man is likely his former employee who worked with him two years ago.

“Last week he came in and his leg was limping. We checked the video, his left leg was still limping when he walked out of the door,” Patel told WRIC TV.

“He sounded the same, he ran away the same way that we’ve seen him before,” he said, adding that the worker was banned from his store back in February.

Despite Patel’s speculation, police have not yet released the identity of the suspect to the public.

Patel has added 12 additional security cameras to the shop and said that he will continue to increase safety measures with a new security system.

“After 8 o’clock, we have an ADT system where somebody would press the doorbell and the clerk would open up the door from here,” he told the news channel.