Police: Man accused of holding 10-inch knife to clerk's throat arrested

HILDEBRAN, N.C. — Police arrested the man they said used a 10-inch knife at a convenience store robbery.

Xiong Moua was booked into the Burke County jail overnight.

The crime, which occurred at the Fast Track in Hildebran Sunday night, was caught on surveillance video.  In the video, the suspect can be seen approaching the clerk from behind and putting a knife to his throat.

The clerk was able to chase the suspect off and fired three shots at him.

"It was a huge knife, and it was amazing that no one was injured, including the store clerk when he grabbed the knife.  I thought he would have cut himself," said Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant.

The clerk's co-worker told Channel 9 she is glad he is OK.

"As long as he can protect himself, I'm all for that.  I think he did the right thing in protecting himself," said Assistant Store Manager Teresa Huffman.

The law does give the clerk the right to defend himself and his store, but police warn someone else could have gotten hurt.

Channel 9 checked the suspect's previous records and found three arrests for forgery in 2010.

WSOC