Dania Beach Walgreens' Cashier Recalls Terrifying Robbery
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Roosevelt Fleurjeune is one very lucky guy.
Fleurjeune, who works as an overnight cashier at a Dania Beach Walgreens, came face to face with a gunman last week who wanted cash and was throwing around threats.
"He said don't look at my face or you're going to die. He was a very aggressive man, very aggressive," said Fleurjeune.
CLICK HERE To Watch Ted Scouten's Report
The robbery happened Sunday, February 8th, just after 11 p.m. at the store along Sheridan Street at SE 5th Avenue.
A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt walks into the store with a gun drawn.
"He tells me you got two minutes to open this register or you're going to die. At that point survival instincts take over, it's like, I got to do something. I got to do something. It can't be like this, this can't be the end for me," said Fleurjeune.
Fleurjeune said he fumbled to open the register.
CLICK HERE to watch Ted Scouten's report
"It felt like an eternity, but it was only a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity at the time. I'm just extremely blessed to be alive," said Fleurjeune.
"He handled it in such a good way that nobody got hurt and it could have gone the other way," said Cathy Hay who was in the store buying cat food.
Hay said she hid in an aisle during the robbery. She has a gift for Fleurijeune.
"I want him to come back so he knows people remember him. People, not just the people from Walgreens, but the people he takes care of," said Hay. "I have a teddy bear for him."
On the surveillance video, a woman who had just made her purchases can be seen backing away from the armed man, leaving her bag of items behind. The robber is seen emptying the bag and filling it with the stolen money.
Less than a minute after walking in, he's walking out, but not before coming face-to-face with Jon Pawlowski who was there on a quick errand. His wife had asked him to go the store and pick up a package of Ramen noodles.
"I had my head buried in my phone so I wasn't really paying attention at all to what I walked into," said Pawlowski. "He puts the gun right to my face and says get on the ground."
Pawlowski can be seen on video obeying the man's command.
The robber continues to hold the gun to Pawlowski's head and then grabs his iPhone before leaving the store.
Investigators believe the gunman may have also been responsible for the robbery of a CVS store at Stirling Road and Park Avenue.
Fleurjeune has returned to work once since the robbery, but not to the register. He hasn't been able to go back since.
"I tried to go back to work last night," Fleurjeune told CBS4 on Monday, "By the time I almost got there, I was like 'Oh man, I have to turn around, it's too early, too soon."