Armed robber of Family Dollar assaults customer

This photo of the man suspected in the Family Dollar armed robbery in Dayton on Monday afternoon, July 4, 2016, was taken from surveillance video, Dayton police said. (Jim Noelker/Staff)

This photo of the man suspected in the Family Dollar armed robbery in Dayton on Monday afternoon, July 4, 2016, was taken from surveillance video, Dayton police said. (Jim Noelker/Staff)

UPDATE @ 5:45 p.m.: The armed robber who took cash from the Family Dollar store in Dayton also assaulted a customer who grabbed him as he pointed his gun at the cashier, Dayton Lt. Wendy Stiver said.

The robber, who police were able to get a clear picture of from surveillance video, posed as a customer then pulled a black handgun on the cashier after placing some items on the counter.

Stiver said the man who grabbed the gunman, a 57-year-old male, suffered a “pretty severe gash” to the side of his head when the robber turned and struck him. That man has been taken to a hospital.

After the assault, the robber walked around the counter and took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register, the lieutenant said.

“We generally recommend, in a robbery situation when a suspect is armed or appears to be armed, that the employees and customers stand back, let him take the money, let him leave. It’s not worth anybody getting hurt over,” Stiver said.

A K-9 unit and officers searched a neighborhood just to the east of the store because police received information that the robber headed in that direction. The officers were not able to locate the robber.

Stiver said based on witness accounts and the surveillance video, the robber is about 5-foot-10, about 150 pounds, 25 to 30 years old. Police released a photo of the suspect that appears with this report.

If you have information about the robber or the suspect, you are asked to call CrimeStoppers at 222-STOP or Dayton police at 333-COPS.

FIRST REPORT

Police have been dispatched on an armed robbery at the Family Dollar, 1046 Patterson Road, in Dayton.

We’re hearing a man with a gun took cash from the store, in the Breitenstrater Square Shopping Center, and ran east toward White Oak Drive.

He was said to be wearing a black rain jacket, white T-shirt, denim jeans and a hat. The robbery was reported just after 4:30 p.m. There are no reports of an injuries.

A K-9 unit and an evidence crew are on scene as well.

We have a crew on scene. We will update this report as details come to us.

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