A pair of armed, masked robbers bit off more than they could chew in Monday’s brazen, afternoon holdup attempt of Quick N Easy Pawnbrokers on Main Street.
Brandishing an appropriately-coloured, black and blue Louisville Slugger aluminum bat, store owner Darren Hafftor was able to fight off his attackers, eventually sending both fleeing for the doors with no loot in their pockets.
“I was putting stuff on the counter and I heard the (back) door smash open so I looked and I saw they had their faces covered and everything and I stood here and said, ‘you guys don’t want to go there, you might want to leave,’ but by that time they had their nerve and they stormed me and I reached for my bat,” said Hafftor,Tuesday morning, his eyes still red and stinging after one of the robbers sprayed him with pepper spray. “He tried to hit me over here (motioning to the back counter) they took a swing at me with their metal bar, billy club or whatever and I moved and he came around here and started smashing the display cabinet.
“They thought they were going to get jewelry but they got nothing.”
Penticton RCMP described the weapon used by the one thief as a retractable, ASP (Armament Systems and Procedure) baton.
Fortunately Hafftor was not hit, managing to avoid potentially serious injuries.
In spite of the intensity of the situation he also managed to push the panic button behind the counter and police arrived moments later.
“It seemed like the whole thing took minutes at the time but when we watched it on video it was only 13 seconds,” said Hafftor, who spent a good part of the morning cleaning up the broken glass from the cabinet. “It’s a scary thing, you don’t think think like that, it happened so quick.”
When officers got to the store a witness pointed out a possible male suspect who was taken into custody in the alley behind the building.
The thieves were described by witnesses as being in their early to mid 20’s with slight builds.
Further review of video from the outside camera at the back of the building showed the two men, with masks on, preparing to enter.
“They were in the back getting their courage up I guess, and they did,” said Hafftor.
While he has been broken into several times during the 19 years he has had the shop, this was the first actual robbery and he is hoping it will be the last.
The store owner also believes a third person may have been involved.
“He was a heavier set guy in a red jacket with fur around the hood,” said Hafftor. “He was there a half hour or an hour before and when those guys showed up at the back door on video we looked at the front and that’s when the guy in the red jacket showed up and he was pacing back and forth and looking through the window, so he was watching.”
According to Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth of the Penticton RCMP the matter is currently under investigation.
The store is located at 431 Main St. and the incident happened just after 2 p.m. Anyone with information or may have witnessed the attempted robbery is asked to call police at 250-492-4300 or Crime Stoppers 1800-222-8477.