Three youth have been charged after police stopped a robbery at a south side Mac’s store early Thursday morning.
At about 12:30 a.m. three males, ages 14, 15 and 17, entered the Mac’s on the corner of Arthur and Edward Streets. Two of the males had knives and one, the 15-year-old suspect, held a knife against the clerk’s throat.
An officer on patrol noticed some suspicious activity outside of the store and turned his car around to investigate, said Insp. Alan McKenzie.
“As he entered the premise, he noticed there was a male holding a knife to the throat of the employee, a second male with a knife and a third male, all in disguise.
“As a result of this, he called for backup and at this time, he feared for the safety of the employee and drew his firearm and challenged the males,” McKenzie said.
“Shortly after that he realized this male wasn’t going to give up; he could see the knife being pressed to the throat of the victim and he feared for his safety,” he added.
Two more officers arrived and the three were able to convince the 15-year-old to drop his weapon and the incident ended peacefully.
The three youth have been charged with robbery with a weapon, assault with a weapon, the use of a disguise with intent and forcible confinement.
McKenzie said the incident shows there is not only a threat to employees of 24-hour businesses, but also to any customers and also to the officers who respond to these types of situations.
“They have a lot at stake. They could have taken the life of a young person and that weighs heavily on their minds,” he said. “They had to really rely on their training and we give a lot of credit to the employee for staying calm in this incident and allowing us to bring it to a peaceful resolution and not having to use lethal force.”
The police have stepped up their efforts to patrol areas with 24-hour businesses because of the frequency of robberies at Mac’s Convenience Stores.
