Store owner speaks out after shooting at would-be robbers (PA)

Three men who allegedly tried to rob a Allentown store owner at knifepoint didn't get far Sunday. The owner of Tommy's Mini-Mart at Sixth and Tilghman grabbed a gun and fired two shots at them, scaring them off.

Speaking exclusively to 69 News, the store owner said he didn't want to use a weapon but felt he had no choice.

Just as Nahy Hadeed was closing for the day, he said three men walked in and demanded all his money, pushing his face into the counter and pressing a sharp object against his throat.

"Any movement, any sudden movement from you, you can cut your throat," said Hadeed. "And them being violent and aggressive and nervous, they can make any mistake."

When Hadeed couldn't get the cash register open, he said one attacker became agitated, jumped the counter, and started punching him. That's when Hadeed grabbed his gun, hidden under the counter, and fired two shots.

"I just don't want to hurt anyone or kill anyone, but once again the issue is, I just want them to flee the store," he said.

Regular customers described Hadeed as kind -- so friendly that he regularly extends credit to those who can't pay.

"I guess that's the kind of world that we're living in now, you know," said neighbor Alejandro Sanchez.

Neighbors admitted fighting the attackers was a gutsy, and perhaps risky, move, but they were also glad Hadeed fought back.

"You got to do what you go to do to survive, right?", said Ivan Quinones, who lives next door and said he shops at the store every day.

A lot of the “anti-robber ‘game’” is psychological.

I like to remember the owner of an inner city liquor store who, after he had shot and killed an armed robber in his store, the third robbery that month, and it was closed for the rest of the night for clean up, when he got an idea. With masking tape and some white paint, he marked out the chalk outline of the dead robber on the floor and made it permanent.

After then, he noticed that at least once a month, someone he didn’t know would enter the store, take one look at the outline on the floor, turn around and walk back out again without a word. The number of armed robberies dropped to zero.

Now granted, this was an extreme, but it was one that worked. And there are many other things that could be done that could psychologically inhibit robbers (excepting those who are so drunk and/or stoned they can’t comprehend anything unless it causes them a lot of physical pain, if that.)

It would actually be worth it to do a psychological study, with convicted armed robbers, of what they could see in a store window or door, or in a business, that would convince them to *not* rob the place. This is important, because while honest, psychologically sound people might *think* they know what would dissuade armed robbers, lord knows how the defective little minds of armed robbers function.

But the bottom line is that, while it’s great to be able and willing to defend yourself, it is always better that you *protect* yourself, so that you do not *have* to defend yourself.

What good does scaring them off do?

Well, what it did was humiliate them, because these 3 cowards armed and having beat a man into submission - were forced to flee. Thus, their NEXT victim, and I'd wager an expensive meal at a fine resturant that there will most definitely be a NEXT victim, will be beaten to the point he cannot defend himself, before his is robbed.

I'd predict that these robbers will beat and/or kill one of their next victims. Perhaps they will return and kill this clerk - for revenge.

My favorite line from Batman Begins is " Henri Ducard: Justice. Crime can not be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding. ".

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