KUCHING: A mother’s warning to her son about the dangers of working at a 24-hour convenience store proved ominous when he was held up at knife-point while on the job early yesterday.
The worker showing where the robber pressed the knife against him during the incident.
The 21-year-old from Bintulu, who started work four days earlier, was manning the counter around 2am when two youths entered the premises at Jalan McDougall in a drunken state.
One of them — wearing a full face motorcycle helmet — stood guard at the door while the other rushed behind the counter and placed a knife against the side of the victim’s torso while demanding him to open the cash register.
Fearing for his life, the employee did as he was told and watched as the armed robber grabbed about RM60 from the register as well as a packet of cigarettes before escaping with his accomplice.
“The first thought that came to my mind when the robber pressed the knife against me was of my parents and whether I would be able to see them again,” said the worker when met immediately after the incident.
According to him, he had called his mother in Bintulu last week to inform her that he was starting work at the convenience store.
“She told me straight away not to take the job as she had read about previous robbery incidents at other chains in the city and said it was too risky.
“I brushed off her worries and assured her nothing of the sort will happen to me.
But it really did,” he said ruefully, adding however that he will not be quitting his job as he needed to support himself while staying here.
Police have obtained footage from security cameras for analysis in a bid to identify the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident at another 24-hour convenience outlet yesterday, police arrested a drunk man after he terrorised two workers and stole RM900 worth of cigarettes.
The incident occurred around 2.30am in Satok when a drunk, shirtless man entered the outlet and behaved aggressively towards a female worker manning the counter.
Terrified, she and a male co-worker immediately locked themselves in a room at the rear of the store before contacting the police for help.
The suspect, meanwhile, headed to the back of the counter and began filling a plastic bag with a total of 75 packets of cigarettes.
While in the midst of doing so, he even took the time to attend to a customer, who happened to enter the premises, by selling him a packet of cigarettes.
He then sauntered out with his ill-gotten goods but was pounced upon by personnel from the Satok police station who were responding to the distress call made by the workers.
A struggle ensued after the suspect, a 29-year-old from Jalan Hashim Jaafar in Petra Jaya, became aggressive but he was swiftly overpowered and handcuffed before being taken to the Simpang Tiga police station for questioning.
District deputy police chief Supt Fauzilan Abdul Aziz, who confirmed the incidents at the two 24-hour outlets, said the suspect detained in Satok will be remanded pending further investigation.