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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Station Worker Chases Holdup Man

Don’t get Michelle Rodeen mad.

On Saturday afternoon, a man who held up the North Side gas station where she works found out what happens.

“If I had known (a bat) was (behind the counter), I’d probably have knocked his head off,” said Rodeen, 5-foot-7, 125 pounds.

Rodeen was tending the Allen Cenex station at 2321 W. Northwest Blvd. when a short white man brandishing a knife demanded the cash drawer.

The man matched the description of a suspect who robbed the same store three weeks earlier.

Rodeen refused.

“I was so amazed that he would come back in three weeks time. I got angry,” she said.

The man - who appeared surprised, Rodeen said - put down the knife to open the heavy register. So she grabbed the knife.

The two wrestled until the man, 5-foot-5, approximately 140 pounds, loosened Rodeen’s hold.

The man then ran across a field next to the station, with Rodeen in pursuit. As the man entered a stand of trees, Rodeen slowed her chase.

“I work two jobs, and this guy trying to get money like that just made me mad,” Rodeen said.

Police have not made an arrest.

, DataTimes