CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. -- The clerk at the Pine View Deli in Caroline County said she was not sure she would survive a robbery at the deli Thursday night. Surveillance video shows the intense, armed confrontation at what is normally a quiet country store.
"The world has gone crazy, man,” William Mewszel, who runs Joe’s Auto Repair next to the deli off Route 301, said. "It makes me nervous to be here at night."
Mewszel said he learned of the robbery after he was pulled over by Caroline deputies.
"We were in a car that apparently matched the suspect’s car," he said.
Deputies said it was not the car that tipped them off to the suspects in the masks, it was the store security video studied by veteran investigator Sgt. Mac Ellet.
"Ellet figured out pretty quickly the customer was part of the robbery, and was there for the purpose of distracting the clerks,” said Lt. Travis Nutter. "So the gunman, a juvenile, could come into the store and commit the robbery."
Physically, the clerks were not hurt. But emotionally, the clerk said she couldn't shake the image of the gun being pointed at her head.
And what hurt her most was finding out the accused -- a juvenile and Deon Green -- were regular customers.
Deputies think the suspects carefully planned out the crime, from the diversion to the gunman entering and exiting through the back door.
That alone has taught Mewszel a valuable lesson. "Usually we leave our back door unlocked while we work, but now we are going to lock them," he said.
With it getting dark outside early, the owner of Pine View Deli said business really drops off. Now, because of Thursday’s robbery, she's considering changing the store hours again.
