SCRANTON -- The owner of a dollar store chased after an armed robber who stole a donation box. The robber got away, but not without firing shots at the store owner.
The owner of Disco Dollar in the Green Ridge Plaza in Scranton says when a robber with a gun walked out of his store Monday morning, he felt like he had to follow him and stand up for himself.
"It's just the fact that you're taking advantage of me. It's just, you know, demeaning," said Farooq Ahmed.
Ahmed says it was knee-jerk reaction he wouldn't recommend anyone else try. A robber pointed a gun at him while he was behind the counter. There was nothing in the cash register, so the robber grabbed a donation jar and some lighters and made his way out of the store.
"He actually didn't expect me to come after him because he showed me a gun and he kind of chambered it, so when I went out, that's when he panicked, and he ran."
The robber led Farooq to train tracks behind the shopping plaza. That's when things took a turn.
"He fired once, and then I was like, 'Whoa, dude, like for 20 bucks?' C'mon, you know? And then I started following him again and then he turned around and actually aimed at me and fired. I could hear the bullet go past me. The police officers were saying to me that was pretty close, so don't ever do that again. I wasn't really thinking. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing."
Ahmed says his reaction was a demand for respect. Shoppers were shocked by what he did.
"Scary, because figure this way, right now they're there, but what if I was in the store at the time, you know? I'd be a goner! It's very sad, but hopefully, they will catch him. And I think they will because the cops here in Scranton, they're great."
Ahmed says the money in the donation jar was meant for various charities run by Scranton's fire and police departments. He also says it couldn't have contained any more than $30.
Anyone with information on the robber is asked to call Scranton police.