Spokane clerk punches man armed with knife

SPOKANE — When a Spokane drugstore clerk confronted a suspected shoplifter around 12:50 a.m. today he pulled out a knife and threatened her. Police say the clerk at the Walgreens drug store at Empire Avenue and Division Street punched the man in the face and knocked him down. He dropped the knife. She picked it up, and he ran off. Police found a man nearby, in the 200 block of E. Glass Avenue, wearing an item that allegedly had been stolen: a black stocking cap with tassels, a news release from the Spokane Police Department said. Richard D. Edmonds, 25, of Spokane, was identified by the clerk and jailed on suspicion of robbery. All evidence from the robbery was recovered, the release said. The Spokane Police Department generally recommends that citizens not confront someone armed with a weapon. In this case, because the suspect was so close to her, the clerk reacted out of self defense, the release said.