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VIDEO: Customer chases store robber in Gaston County

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A woman inside a convenience store during a robbery tried to stop a robber from getting away.

Surveillance video from Sunday night inside the Kingsway on Chapel Grove Church Road near Gastonia captured a man entering the store and waving a gun at the female clerk.

There were two customers in the store. One customer ran off, while the other stayed and watched for a few seconds before running away, too.

The man is seen on the video ordering the clerk to fill his duffle bag with cigarettes, while he grabbed money out of the cash register. The suspected robbed scooped up as much money as he could before running out to the parking lot.

A surveillance camera outside the store shows the man dropping some money as he races across the parking lot to a car and driver waiting nearby. The same camera also captured one of the customers slowly driving toward the getaway car, which was described as a Ford Taurus.

When the getaway driver drove by the customer’s car, the customer did a quick U-turn and drove through the grass to pass by some cars.

The store manager said the customer followed the suspected robber down Crowders Creek Road, onto southbound Highway 321 and stayed close when the suspect vehicle turned around and drove north.

The customer followed for about four to five miles before she gave up, according to the store manager.

She told the store manager she wanted to call police but she didn’t have her cellphone. The customer returned to the store, apologized to the clerk for not catching the suspected robber and stayed to talk to Gaston County police.

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