ROBBERS FOILED BY LOCKED DOORS AND ALERT NEIGHBORS

A trio of would-be robbers dressed head to toe in black was all set to target an Oak Hill convenience store at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. But they ran into a few problems: the store was already closed for the night, and neighbors saw the men being dropped off by their getaway driver and confronted them right away. The robbers did make it to the front door, but since it was locked and witnesses were already on the alert, the crooks abandoned their plan. One witness chased the robbers to their car, but then backed off when one of them fired a shot from a handgun in his direction. No one was injured. Another witness who was driving through the area and saw the shooting followed the fleeing car but the robbers eventually got away from him.

A 51-year-old Oak Hill resident was on his front porch when he saw a car stop nearby and three men suspiciously dressed all in black, including covered faces, get out of the car. The three headed toward The Grocery Box, 262 N. U.S. Highway 1 while the car went to a nearby abandoned home and waited in the driveway. The resident said that as the men rounded a corner of the store he yelled after them, “I’m calling the cops.” A 52-year-old clerk who was inside the store cleaning up after having locked the doors at closing time half an hour earlier saw the masked men looking in through the front window. They never said anything or displayed their weapons to her. Then a moment later they fled.

The neighbor who had first spotted the robbers then watched them head back to their car. He chased after the men, but they all pointed guns at him and told him to “back off.” One robber fired a shot toward the neighbor, but didn’t hit him. Once they got back into their car and started driving away, a 19-year-old Edgewater resident who was driving through the area and saw the shooting followed them. But after about two miles he turned around and returned to the store.

The witnesses were not able to provide much of a description of the robbers, other than their being young men dressed all in black. The getaway car was a candy-apple red midsize four-door car, which might have been a Ford Taurus or Acura Integra.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Sergeant Sean Gowan or Investigator Beth Fortin at (386) 423-3301 or Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, toll-free, at (888) 277-TIPS. Tipsters can also provide information by texting “TIP231 plus the message” to CRIMES. Anyone who provides information to Crime Stoppers will remain anonymous and can qualify for a reward of up to $1,000.