CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. -- It was caught on surveillance video: a suspect walking into a convenience store, looking like a Ninja, dressed in all black with just his eyes showing.
The clerk told us, he had no choice but to comply. Now you'd think if someone walked into a convenience store looking like that, one would be suspicious.
But clerk Corey Anderson said it happened so fast, he didn't have time to call 911 until afterwards.
"He proceeded to the back of the store," said Anderson. "Then he walked up fast and pointed the gun at me."
You can see Anderson on the tape, emptying the cash drawer. "I asked, Was he serious?” Anderson said. “And he shook his head yes."
The crook got away with close to $2,000, according to deputies.
Anderson said he was quick to go along because customers were inside.
"I gave him the money because I didn't want extra problems,” he said. “There was a kid inside."
A seven-year-old boy is seen hiding behind his father.
Caroline County deputies point out it wasn’t the first crime of the day for this man.
"It appears to be the same suspect from a break-in," Maj. Scott Moser said.
That break-in occurred 20 hours before the robbery about a mile down Route 207 at the Sunshine Mart. Two men at that store were seen in another surveillance video helping themselves.
"You can see the guy is desperate enough to commit two crimes in one day,” said Moser. “We are using every resource available to locate him."
Deputies hope someone watching will recognize these men. Investigators said the men could be from Caroline or the surrounding area.
Anderson said he can't worry about what happened because being a night clerk is his job and it's how he supports his family.
"It does shake my nerves a bit, but I can't stop coming to work,” he said. “I've got a kid to take care of."
If you recognize the men in the two surveillance videos, contact the Caroline County Sheriff’s Department at 804-633-1133.
