Repeat Robber Terrorizes Brockton Clerks With Sawed-Off Shotgun
BROCKTON (CBS) – A robber, armed with a sawed-off shotgun has hit at least two stores in Brockton. Police have released video and hope somebody will recognize the suspect so they can get him off the streets.
The man had his sawed-off shotgun partially hidden under a white trash bag when he strolled into a Dunkin Donuts on North Main forcing the clerk to empty the cash register.
Two nights earlier, the Brockton Mini-Mart on Pleasant Street was hit.
WBZ-TV's Diana Perez reports
Nothing seems to scares Patel Kiritkumar, not even the wrong end of a sawed off shot gun.
Surveillance video from the Brockton store shows him stay calm as a gunman walks in, last week.
"The gun is pointing at my head and said give me all money," says Patel.
Instead the brave clerk motions for the gunman to grab the money himself, he even opens the register drawer for him. Then without warning the seemingly agitated robber fires once, but Patel never flinches even as the shot hits inches from his hip, leaving a hole in the counter.
Patel says the unmasked gunman could see himself on two big screens from nearby cameras as soon as he walked through the door, still his demeanor was so relaxed that for a moment the clerk thought the weapon and the stick up were fake.
"I think he just play with me but then he shoot over here and I realize that it's a real gun," says Patel.
A real gun handled by a dangerous man according to Brockton police. Investigators say this is the same guy who held up the nearby Dunkin' Donuts.
Luckily though there is movement in both cases. "Our phones have been ringing with leads," says Brockton Police Captain Manny Gomes. "We have day and night detectives working on this."
Back on the day of the robbery at the mini market, Patel says he was given one more order as the gunman stood by the door about to leave with the cash drawer in his hand. He said, "Don't call the police, don't press the security button."
Instead an unfazed Patel waits a beat, watches the bad guy leave, then reaches right for that button.
Patel says the robber got away with $200. He explains that he was able to maintain his cool composure because this was the third time he'd been robbed in less than three years at that store.
The last time was just before Christmas 2011.
The shotgun-toting robber is black, roughly 5'10" with a light mustache and chin hair. In both hold-ups, he wore a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans, with black and white skeleton gloves.
