Clerk chased off attacker after robbery, police say
By JOHN DIEDRICH and LINDA HANIG
Dec. 15, 2004
A store clerk who was hit over the head with a bottle and robbed Tuesday pulled a handgun from behind the register and chased off his attacker, Milwaukee police said.
At 4:50 p.m., the robber struck the 41-year-old clerk at Star Food, in the 2500 block of W. Grant St., with a bottle, briefly knocking him unconscious, said Sgt. Ken Harris, police spokesman.
According to Harris, the robber stole money from the cash register and grabbed the victim's car keys. As the robber went to get into the car, the clerk grabbed a gun, ran outside and confronted his attacker, who then ran. The gun was legal to have behind the business counter, Harris said.
Yousef Hinnawi, who was back at the cash register as usual Wednesday evening, said he was waiting on a customer when he was hit on the back of the head.
"I didn't see him come in, or hear him," said Hinnawi, who manages the store for his cousin. The robber, he said, is a prior customer who hadn't been in the store for several months.
While Hinnawi was stunned, the robber got behind the counter and demanded "money, money, money," Hinnawi said. After Hinnawi opened the cash drawer, the robber took the bills and asked for the change.
Hinnawi said the robber then demanded the keys to Hinnawi's car. Hinnawi protested, saying: "You can't drive this car. It's an old car. It's hard to start. It's diesel." But he handed over the keys anyway and the robber left the store.
Hinnawi said he then retrieved a gun from behind the counter and went outside to confront the robber, who was getting into the car. When he saw Hinnawi point the gun at him, he fled on foot.
Hinnawi was later diagnosed with a mild concussion at St. Luke's Medical Center, he said. He was still nauseous Wednesday evening and was closing the store early, he said.
Hinnawi said his uncle was robbed at gunpoint in the store a month ago. As those two robbers left the store, Hinnawi said, they robbed a 67-year-old woman of her purse as she was entering the business.
"Imagine that, robbing an old lady," he said.
Besides those two robberies, he had never had a problem in the business, he said.
"I love the south side," said Hinnawi, who has worked at the store for five years and lived in Milwaukee for 23 years.
