The E-Z Mart clerk told Fort Smith police that a black man between the ages of 20 and 30 approached him outside of the store at about 10:45 p.m. Monday and said he needed something from inside, the Southwest Times Record of Fort Smith reported Thursday.
The clerk said the man lifted his shirt inside the store and showed him what appeared to be the colored handle of a handgun inside his waistband.
"I hate to do this, but I need $40 from the cash register," the clerk quoted the man as saying.
The employee said he told the man that he could not take money from the register because the money was not his to give. He said he gave the man $40 from his own pocket after the would-be robber explained that he needed the money for insulin.
The suspect shook the clerk's hand, thanked him and left the store as another customer was entering. Police said the man promised to come back and see the clerk.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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