TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County Sheriff Mike Navarre has been working in law enforcement for over 40 years. But one recent incident has stuck in his mind more than others.
According to a police report, a man walked into an S&G (BP) gas station on South Holland Sylvania Road in Holland during the early hours of June 18. He was about five feet, eight inches tall and was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans and a black hat.
The report and surveillance footage show that he walked to the fridge in the store and grabbed a soda. He then walked to the register and handed the clerk a note.
It had "Empty the register, I got a gun" written on it. He also demanded cigarettes and vapes.
The woman behind the counter asked the man to show her the gun.
The man replied that he doesn't want to show it because he was on camera. He then apparently reached behind his back, put his hand in his hoodie pocket and pointed at the woman at waist level "in the shape of a gun," according to the police report.
She told police she didn't want to open the register because she didn't want to get fired. So, she offered the man $40 of her own money to try and get him to leave.
The woman said she negotiated with the man for about five minutes, then he agreed to the deal. And she even checked out another customer while this robbery was happening.
The woman said she had a friend upload $40 to her cash app card. She then gave her card and pin number to the man and told him to go across the street to the ATM. The report states that he tried the ATM at the gas station but it wasn't working.
In the footage, you can see the man leave with the card and the photos from the report show $40 was cashed out. It gets weirder: the man brought the card back to the woman and thanked her.
The woman called police after the man left.
WTOL 11 reached out to the clerk to get her side of the story, but her bosses did not approve for her to do an interview.
He did get away with some Breeze vapes. Police are still looking for him, so if you know anything, call 419-213-4784.