“The suspect matches the description of the individual that robbed the Texaco convenience store in Temple on June 5,” Sheriff Dan Smith said about Monday’s robbery at Country Boy’s, located off Interstate 35.
About 6:30 p.m., the sheriff’s report said, a white or Hispanic man between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall weighing about 160 pounds entered the store, displayed a handgun and demanded cash from the register. The man was wearing a blue baseball cap, long sleeve green shirt and sunglasses.
“He just walked up to the counter like any normal person and asked for the money,” said the clerk, who asked not to be named. “I thought it was a joke.”
However, the man then made a gesture with his hand and the clerk said he saw the gun.
“I realized it was not a joke,” he said. “I said, ‘OK, I’ll give you what you need.”
During the robbery, the clerk said his co-worker came out of the back room, but she didn’t realize what was happening.
The robber, the clerk said, told him to go into the bathroom. However, he asked if he could go into the back room where the other clerk was filling out paperwork. He said the robber agreed, escorted him into the backroom, shut the door and ran away.
“Immediately we called the police and locked the doors,” he said.
Tami Neuwirth said the robbery occurred at the end of her shift.
“I thought that was odd,” Ms. Neuwirth said when her co-worker entered and the door was shut. “I asked him what was wrong and he said ‘we just got robbed.’”
The Texan Texaco in Temple off I-35 was robbed at gunpoint at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. After the clerk handed over the money, the robber ordered him into the men’s bathroom.
As soon as the robber put him in the men’s bathroom the clerk, who asked not to be identified, said his cell phone rang. He answered the phone, which he said he believes scared the robber, and told his father what happened before placing a call to local police.
The clerk said he recognized the suspect as someone who came in the night before to purchase a 32-ounce Steel Reserve beer.
He was described as a 5-feet-10-inch Asian man in his early 40s with tattoos on both forearms. The man in question sports a chain tattoo across his collarbone and has shoulder length hair.
The clerk was not alone in that store either. His brother was in a back room and was unaware that a robbery happened.
The clerk was still shaking an hour after the robbery. Both brothers said they are moving on.
“It is what it is,” the victim’s brother said.
Regulars to the convenience store include city workers, neighbors living in the area and commuters.
“The same 300 people come through this store and we are comfortable with them,” the clerk said.
The owner of the Texaco station is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robber.
Anyone with information on the robberies may contact the Temple Police Department at 298-5500 or the Bell County Sheriff’s Office at 933-5400.
