Store owner gives would-be robber bread and $40

By FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 3, 2009 2:27 pm ET


GARDEN CITY, N.Y. –

A Long Island convenience store owner confronted by a bat-wielding would-be robber
said Tuesday he decided to show mercy on the man after he collapsed in tears claiming
he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

Instead of getting loot from a stickup, the store owner provided the man with
$40 and a loaf of bread, but only if he promised never to rob again.

"This was a grown man, crying like a baby," Mohammad Sohail, owner of the
Shirley Express convenience store about 65 miles east of New York City, told
The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The man dropped the bread, picked up the bat and tucked the $40 into his waistband
before fleeing, said Suffolk County Police Sgt. John Best.

Sohail, who moved to the United States from Pakistan about 20 years ago,
said he was getting ready to close his store shortly after midnight on May 21
when the man in his 40s entered with a bat in his hand. Sohail said he tried
to stall for a moment and then grabbed a rifle he keeps behind the counter
and ordered the assailant to drop the bat.

The would-be thief dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness, Sohail said.

"He started crying that he was out of work and was trying to feed his hungry family," he said.
"I felt bad for him. I mean, this wasn't some kid."

He said he tossed $40 to the man, who then stood up and told Sohail he wanted to become a fellow Muslim.
Sohail said he then pretended to swear the man into the Muslim faith and two ended up shaking hands.

Sohail said he went to the back of the store to get some milk to give to the man,
but when he returned the man had fled. He said he called police and reported the
attempted robbery, but doesn't want to press charges if the man is ever caught.




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What a nice fellow. Kind of goes against that popular belief among many Western Christians that Muslims are all just a bunch of uncharitable terrorist animals, doesn't it?

next week the whole family will show up

java wrote:

What a nice fellow. Kind of goes against that popular belief among many Western Christians that Muslims are all just a bunch of uncharitable terrorist animals, doesn't it?

lol

I would've liked the story better if he had held the guy for the cops...

The robber did show some real creativity in the "how to avoid getting shot" department.

I think that if someone ever pulls a gun on me I'll drop to my knees, beg for my life, and say I want to convert to the gunman's religion.

BMG wrote:

The robber did show some real creativity in the "how to avoid getting shot" department.

I think that if someone ever pulls a gun on me I'll drop to my knees, beg for my life, and say I want to convert to the gunman's religion.

i'm not buying the goodwill, he was recruiting future terrorists