Masked man armed with machete robs Stanley couple, officials say

STANLEY, N.C. — A husband was cut by a machete-wielding robbery in Stanley, officials said.

The couple, who asked not to be identified, were at the Coin Laundry on North Main Street on Tuesday night.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect my wife,” the husband said.

The husband was watching the clothes inside the laundromat while his wife sat outside waiting. He heard her cry for help.

The woman said three men wearing big jackets, hoodies, masks and gloves caught her off guard.

Police said it appeared to be planned and not random.

Police call their attire an elaborate outfit for such a small theft.

Video from inside the store shows the men step in with the wife.

A man with a machete pulled her hair and put the blade to her throat.

“I hit him in the jaw,” her husband said.

He said the man dropped the machete, but the other robbers helped. They swung the blade and it hit the husband on the chin. He needed stitches.

Another blow sent him to the ground.

The man with the machete forced the woman to give him money from her purse. They left with the cash and her Google Next tablet.

The couple said their sense of security was stolen by the people who caught them off guard Tuesday night.

"I am constantly looking over my shoulder," the wife said.

"It's very troublesome to see this type of crime committed in our community," Chief Derek Summey with the Stanley Police Department said.

The couple want the men caught, so they can answer one question:

"I just want to know why," the wife said.

Police said they have leads, but they need help. They want to talk to anyone who say anybody who looks out of place Tuesday night.

Reporter Ken Lemon is speaking to officials about the robbery. See his full report on Eyewitness News starting at 5 p.m.

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