by Alex Lloyd Gross
It was just after 3:45 AM when Sport, a baby German Sheppard sensed something was wrong. He stood up and looked outside the window of the Prime Deli on Torresdale Ave. at Cheltenham Aveenue, where he “worked” and kept the night clerk company. “He never does that,” said Redwen Alwobahi, during his shift at the deli. Sport is usually content to lay on the ground as customers come and go throughout the day.
However within a few minutes, two robbers enter the store, one armed with an Uzi, and immediately walked towards the back and pointed the gun at the female clerk. Sport sensed something was up and he jumped on the robber, which caused the robber to move his gun and distracted him . It was then that the female clerk pulled her own gun and fired shots at the robber, who fled out of store . He would later realize he was shot and would go to Temple Hospital.
Hearing the shots, the robber’s partner ran into the store and shot the clerk with a handgun, as the dog was running around, obviously scared. He shot the clerk in the groin area, and fired on the go, without aiming. Bullets wound up hitting the wall and the couch where the clerk was sitting. He was not wearing any mask when he came in and his face was visible plain as day to security cameras.
The thieves did not get anything except shot. Now, police are looking for the unmasked robber. It is almost certain that they will face federal prison time for a Hobbs Act Robbery and gun charges. The clerk is in critical condition with four gunshot wounds, police said. The robber is also in critical condition, having been shot multiple times. He is still in surgery and has not been charged. He is in the hospital under police guard. There was also a hold up at a nearby Dunkin Donuts. Police are checking to see if it was the same guys. A total of eight shots were fired , Alwobahi said.
“This was stupid, the second guy came in with the intent to kill, with his gun out. By the time he got to the back, the robbery was already thwarted. He should have left,” said Jamal Carter, a clerk that is working at the store to pay his tuition to school. He hopes to be a college professor.