Stop Thief! Tosa Drug Store Clerk Does Her Best

In yet another instance, a citizen voluntarily confronted a criminal in the act and stubbornly tried to stop him.

In this case, a thief got away from a drug store clerk, but with only half the merchandise he intended to take, after she smacked some of the goods out of his hands.

According to police reports: 

At 2:28 a.m. Thursday, an employee of the . called police to report a theft that had occurred moments before and her run-in with the thief.

She said she had stepped away from the cash register when she heard the familiar squeak of the counter’s swinging half-door.

She knew the other clerk on duty was not in that part of the store, so she went back to the register to find a man on his hands and knees behind the counter with several cartons of piled cigarettes beside him.

She ordered him away from the register and told him to leave the store.

The man grabbed four cartons of smokes and headed for the exit, but the clerk stepped in front of him and told him to drop the goods. He briefly put the cigarettes down on the counter, but then picked them right back up and again made to leave.

The clerk slapped two of the cartons out of his hands, but he pushed her out of his way and made off with the other two, worth $67.07 each, retail.

A customer who walked in a minute later said he had seen the suspect go behind the nearby building. did an area search but were unable to locate him.

The clerk described the thief as black, 36 to 44 years old, 5-feet 4- to 6-inches tall, weighing 140 to 150 pounds, last seen wearing a black T-shirt with neon green Nike lettering, with gray jeans and black shoes.

Police obtained video images of the thief but did not say whether he was identifiable in the images.