For the second time in two days, a prominent Palm Coast store was the target of an armed robbery, and the robber got away. Thursday evening’s robbery took place at the Mobil station and 7-11 convenience store on Palm Coast Parkway, near Starbucks and Old Kings Road. No one was hurt. The robber escaped with about $94 in cash.
Wednesday evening, the Publix store at Town Center, on Belle Terre Parkway, was the target of an armed robber near closing time, just before 10 p.m. No one was hurt in that robbery, and the amount of money the robber got away with was not disclosed by police or the store manager.
The Flagler County Sheriff was alerted to the 7-11 store robbery at 220-A Palm Coast Parkway just before midnight Thursday. (The 7-11 shares the same building as Smoothie King.) “When I received the call I was at the light on Old Kings Rd and Kings Way,” deputy George Bender reported, “I checked the immediate area as I responded to the scene and did not observe anyone fleeing from the scene.”
Bender met with the 22-year-old clerk, a resident of the nearby F-Section. She was “visibly shaken and was crying.” As she recalled the robbery, the clerk was sitting down “doing cycle counts when the door flung open with someone running inside with a pistol demanding the money in the drawer. She then opened the drawer to give him the money and as she was doing so he told her that time was ticking. The suspect had a brown plastic bag with him and the money was placed in there.” (The method contrasted with the Publix robbery, where the suspect was less coherent, claimed to be dying of AIDS as he passed a bag to the cashier for the money.)
Sandra Burtha, the manager of the 7-11 store, responded to the scene and retrieved the surveillance video, which she passed to deputies. According to a redacted incident report describing the video (the report is redacted because the incident is still under investigation), the suspect appears to be a male. He enters the store with a brown bag (the report redacts which door the suspect used: there is pone front door, but also a back door to the building.)
“His height could not be determined as he is crouched down as he comes through the door,” the incident report states. “As he began to run to the right toward the counter the suspect drops the plastic bag behind him as he gets to the counter. He then turns, [redacted] and picks up the bag with [redacted] and then puts the bag on the counter. When he turns around he exposed the back of his neck which appeared to be a [redacted]. He then opens the bag while pointing the handgun at [the store clerk] as she places the money in the bag. He then runs out the same door he came in and runs toward the Starbucks area.”
The suspect is wearing a black ski mask and what appears to be a bandana underneath that may have been blue, the report states. He was also wearing a solid black long sleeve shirt, black gloves, dark colored camouflage pants and black shoes.
Several deputies responded to the area and established a perimeter. A K-9 unit was also involved, but the search was fruitless.
johnqpublic says
My question is this if we the public are supposed to help in any form with identifying these kinds of people to report them why do they redact the very things that might help such as tattoos or anything in that nature I mean hello we can’t help you if we don’t know what to look for or if we know the person.
Grand Shaven says
Well, seems those 11 new deputies are going to be busy around here in Palm Toast !!!
Ray Thorne says
We won’t see those deputies on the road for quite a while yet.
m&m says
If the cops confront them they can throw the bean bags at them. After all you don’t want to hurt the person with the assault rifle.. What a frickin joke..
Anonymous says
Wow, seems like the cops are slackin
Anonymous says
First off blame your city counsel for allowing section 8`s in foreclosed on houses , they brought all the crime here , they used to be limited to duplexes so weren`t a fraction of as many as we have now , and again the bean bags are not for robberies or drug busts , they are for people sick , who want to hurt themselves , SMH
NortonSmitty says
Well, Flagler already has a Daytona North. Maybe we should consider changing the name from Palm Coast to Holly Hill North.
sorrysomeonehastosayit says
Where is this ‘assault rifle’ reference coming from ‘m&m’? The article says a pistol was used, and I should also mention that there is technically no such thing as an ‘assault rifle’. There are rifles, and the kind the military use are commonly referred to as Battle Rifles, which are select fire, meaning they can shoot semi-auto (1 cartridge is shot) or full-auto (Multiple cartridges are shot per trigger pull). However, civilian rifles are semi-auto, no different from most hunting rifles made within the past 50-60 years. The differences are cosmetic, things like grips, scopes/sights and telescopic stocks simply allow people to handle the firearm with less trouble.
[Note: the commenter is misinformed. While the terms are at times debated (albeit mostly by more demagogues than reasoned debaters), assault rifles are common and the term, despite its unsavory etymology, has been used historically and commonly by gun dealers.–FL]
ted bundy says
[Comment deleted: bigoted.–FL]
happy holidays says
any video?!!
Bill says
You need to start by getting the panhandles off the street. Seeing the panhandlers signals that the area is not serious about crime hence the spike. I hope the sheriff takes note, we’ll see.
Ray Thorne says
Doubtful.
confidential says
Jim, we need more patrolling!!
Ray Thorne says
If only there were a law enforcement officer leading our deputies….sigh.
John says
Jacksonville South
Frank Diliberto says
I agree with starting with the panhandlers! I saw one guy walk from the 95 sb ramp to craker barrel, got in a car and drove off!
Citizen says
I’m jealous… when my house got broke into in broad daylight in the R section several months ago (took $5000 cash and all our electronics) it took the cops almost 2 hours to get there. True story!
#1 Gator Fan says
Palatka East.
Ray Thorne says
That’s right.
Al_Zeimers says
I am so glad that I have a house full of guns and the guts to use them if needed. By their very nature the police are a day late and a dollar short. My wife is afraid to go to Wally World after dark.