Store Clerk Wrestles Gun From Robber

Police are searching for two men who they say targeted a Philadelphia store.

Investigators say the first robbery occurred on June 14 around 5:15 p.m. Surveillance video captures a man entering Lisa & Charlie’s Market on Torresdale Avenue. The man was armed with a knife and is seen demanding money from the store clerk. Police say that the clerk gave the man around $60 in cash. The video then captures the man fleeing on a black bicycle.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 30s, standing at 5-foot-11. He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt, blue jeans and was armed with a knife.

The second robbery took place on June 28 and was also captured on surveillance video. Around 7:10 p.m., a man is seen walking into Lisa & Charlie’s. Yuzhen Ma, an employee at the store says that the man had been in the store before and wanted a pair of pants altered.

As Yuzhen walked to the back of the store, surveillance video captures the man grabbing Yuzhen’s hair and punching her several times. He then points a gun at her chest. Yuzhen’s 13-year-old son quickly called 911 as her mother struggled to fight off the robber.

As he dialed, Yuzhen was able to grab the robber’s gun. The two then tumbled through the front door. Yuzhen finally pulled the gun from the robber’s hands as he fled down a nearby street.

While Yuzhen suffered cuts on her fingers and a shoulder bruise, she knows that she’s lucky to be alive.

“He pulled a gun,” said Yuzhen. “I was scared but I had to fight.”

Police describe the suspect as a white male between 35 and 40 years of age with long brown hair, a scruffy beard and a mustache. Police say that he is between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt and a blue bandanna tied around his head.