Attempted robbery

Last Sunday, a masked man attempted to rob Penny Wyse, a Sackville convenience store located on Queens St. The intruder fled empty handed.

At 9:50 pm, Darlene Turner was about to close her convenience store when a man in a black hoodie entered through the open door.

Turner was speaking on phone when the man entered the store and did not notice the man’s balaclava until he turned to face her. She said the man wore many layers of clothing to appear big.

“I turned to ask him if I could get him something, and that’s when he told me to give him the money,” Turner said. “Then he shoved the knife at me.”

When Turner pushed the armed robbery button, which sends an alert to the police station, the intruder nicked her near her elbow with the tip of his knife. She did not notice her wound until she was home safely.

According to Turner, the blade was at least 18 inches long.

“When I screamed, my husband heard me and came out. He chased the man down the street with a shovel.”

Turner said that the man had two accomplices: a man waiting in a car and a woman keeping watch.

The attempted robbery was the fifth break in to Penny Wyse in the last ten years.

“Now I’ve got bars on the door; I pay for security every month. It’s all costing me, and they are getting nothing out of it.”

Turner said it is foolish to rob a business in Sackville because clerks keep very little money in their tills.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police released a statement saying, “The matter continues to be under investigation and no charges have been laid to date.”

“I told the police, ‘This is enough,’” Turner said. “Something needs to be done.”