Quick Thinking Averts Robbery

Fri., June 6, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

A quick-thinking Spokane gas station clerk thwarted a robbery early Thursday, police said.

The clerk told police that two men entered the Exxon station at 901 E. Sharp at 1:30 a.m. and demanded money.

One of the would-be robbers had his hand concealed under his shirt and claimed he had a handgun. As the clerk emptied the cash register, he deliberately dropped some money on the floor, police said.

When the clerk bent down to get the money, he grabbed a handgun from underneath the counter and aimed it at the suspects who ran from the store.

A witness told police he saw the suspects run to the Safeway parking lot at Mission and Hamilton.

Police later arrested Kevin M. Herbert, 30, and Craig A. Centers, 25, on suspicion of first-degree attempted robbery. They were booked into the Spokane County Jail.

, DataTimes

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