A fearless gas station clerk stopped a serial armed robbery suspect from robbing her store when she sprayed the would-be robber with bug spray, video shows. The incident occurred in Vancouver, Washington.
“I was scared. I was just trying to protect myself. I didn’t even think to open the register to give him the money. I just wanted him out of my space,” Amber Mahley, an employee at the B&B Mart in Vancouver, told KATU.
In the video, the suspect is seen wearing all black clothing, a cap and a red bandana over his face. He approaches the counter, flashed a handgun and told the woman to “put the money in the bag.”
Without hesitating, the brave woman swiftly springs to her right and grabs a can of bug spray, which she sprays at the thief from behind the counter, the video shows.
The woman can be seen screaming at the suspect as he runs out the front door without stealing anything. “He just made his way towards the door, and he left,” Mahley said.
The suspect, who has yet to be identified, is being sought by at least eleven law enforcement agencies in the Portland area, according to KATU.
“We have what we believe about 30, more than 30 robberies that are likely committed by the same suspect,” Kim Kapp of The Vancouver Police Department said. At least seven businesses were robbed in Vancouver, cops said.
The Portland Police Department told the outlet they are “uncomfortable giving out the list of businesses” robbed in the city at this time.
According to KATU, the suspect has robbed coffee shops, hotels, auto parts stores, take-out restaurants, a cosmetics store, gas stations, and an adult store.
Investigators said the suspect has always carried a gun during his crime spree over the last three months.
If spotted, cops have asked the public not to confront him and to call 911 immediately. He is described as a male between 30 and 35 with brown hair and beard, roughly 5’8” to 5’10 and weighing 160 lbs.
“It’s not worth your life or your safety to withhold money from someone,” Kapp said.
