Convenience Store Clerk Takes On Would-Be Robber
FREEPORT (KDKA) – A man is in jail Tuesday after a convenience store clerk refused to let him rob her.
Police say 32-year-old Joshua Ling of Freeport tried to rob the BP gas station and convenience store on Buffalo Street around 8:20 a.m.
When asked by KDKA-TV's Brenda Waters why he would try to rob the store, Ling said, "I'm a junkie."
Ling allegedly entered the store and asked the employee behind the counter, Michelle Hawthorne, for a pack of cigarettes.
When Hawthorne turned around, police say Ling told her to open the register – and when she refused, he got behind the counter and started banging on the cash register.
Then, a 5-foot-4-inch-tall Hawthorne grabbed Ling, who stands at over 6 feet tall, by the neck and pushed him until she pushed him out the door and called police.
When police got to the scene, they found Ling walking around. Police say Ling confessed to the attempted robbery and said he wanted to go back to jail – which is where he went.
Ling is currently in the Armstrong County Jail on $50,000 bond.
He is charged with attempted robbery, attempted theft and simple assault.
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