Robber hides in women's bathroom, ambushes store employees

CONYERS, Ga. - Police in Conyers have released video of a man investigators said lay in wait in the women’s bathroom of a store before ambushing the employees at a closing in a takeover-style robbery.

Investigators said the man came into the Fred's on New Year’s Eve and cased the place. Police then said he waited in a women's bathroom stall armed with a black semi-automatic handgun for an employee to clean up. Police said the man then bound the employee with duct tape.

“He actually binds her hands with duct tape, her mouth with duct tape,” said Conyers Police Sgt. Kim Lucas.

Police said the man tried to lure the second employee.

“What he wanted for her to do was coax the other employee, another female employee into the bathroom with him, which she did not do,” Sgt. Lucas.

Police said the video shows the second employee waiting at the front door for her co-worker to come out of the bathroom when she spots the robber come at her.

“She runs from the stores and he chases her out of the location, in the parking lot. And fortunately she was able to get into her vehicle and leave the scene," said Sgt. Lucas.

The robber was unsuccessful with robbing the store, but did manage to get away with the first employee’s personal items.

“Sure, they were going through motions of closing up which they had done dozens of times before. And unfortunately, they were just truly ambushed by this individual and luckily they were not hurt,” said Sgt. Lucas.

Police want to get the video and story out there as a warning to other stores in the area to be on alert.

As for the employees, they have not returned to work since the attack.

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