Local

Police search for men wanted in brazen robbery

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are looking for two men they said beat and robbed a northeast Atlanta store owner.

The owner of the Reddy Supermarket on College Avenue told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri the men jumped him as he walked to his car after closing and forced him back inside at gunpoint.

The owner said one of the men hit him in the ear causing an injury that required stitches.

He also had a black eye and cuts on his face from where one of the men hit him again inside.

"I thought, 'They are going to kill me,'" the owner said, who asked not to be identified.

The owner said the men spent nearly half an hour ransacking the store.

Video showed them taking hundreds of boxes of cigarettes and six-packs of beer. They took the owner's car keys and carried items out to his green Kia Sedona.

"They're showing me the gun also, so I'm scared," he said.

Video showed one of the men point a gun at the owner as they cleaned out the cash register. He said the men were asking him to hand over tapes from incriminating surveillance video.

When he explained the system didn't use tapes, he said one of the men punched him in the face.

He told Viteri the only reason the men left was because he took a chance and hit the panic button. They fled in his van with cash and some of the merchandise.

Customers like Robert Cook said they hoped the owner recovered soon and were hoping for an arrest.

"I don't care for nobody taking advantage of nobody no way that's working for their living, you know?" Cook said, "Stop trying to take from people."

Police want anyone who recognizes the men to contact them. Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.