TAYLOR MILL -- A dramatic holdup at a pawn shop Thursday afternoon ended with two boys in the hospital after the store clerk surprised them with two faked heart attacks and a gun.
The juveniles, ages 15 and 17, left a trail between the Quick Cash on Taylor Mill Road and St. Elizabeth Hospital North: police found their bloody clothing along the road.
The 17-year-old was listed in critical condition Thursday evening, police said. The 15-year-old, who was shot in the shoulder, was expected to be released from the hospital today. Police were ready to pick him up, charge him with robbery and take him to the Kenton County juvenile detention center, said Police Chief Steve Knauf. The pair will be charged with first-degree robbery. A suspected accomplice, Travis Evans, 18, of Erlanger, has been charged with three counts of first-degree robbery, one each for the clerk and two customers. Chief Knauf said Mr. Evans was the getaway driver. Police are questioning another juvenile who waited in the car with Mr. Evans.
The youths, both brandishing pistols and wearing black clothing and black ski masks, went into the Quick Cash about 3:20 p.m. and demanded money, the chief said. That's when clerk George Waters of Florencefaked his first heart attack. Clutching his chest, he fell to the floor so he could reach the silent alarm that notified police.
Hoping the boys would be deterred from the robbery by the staged attack, Mr. Waters rose from the floor. But one of the gunmen was catching on, saying to the other, "He's messing with us," Chief Knauf said.
Waters speaks with officers at the store in Taylor Mill.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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So Mr. Waters, described as being in his 50s, fell to the floor again, this time coming up with a weapon of his own. He fired the .45-caliber pistol, hitting both of the boys. The 17-year-old took at least one bullet in the torso, the chief said, and underwent surgery twice before midnight.
Detectives from the Kenton County Police Department combed the crime scene for evidence, scraping up piles of shattered glass from the store's front window. They found the getaway car outside the hospital, a 6-mile drive along Interstate 275 and Turkeyfoot Road from the pawn shop.
The shootout and Mr. Waters' quick reaction was the topic of conversation throughout the rest of the afternoon at the Ameristop next door.
"I never would've thought about George doing anything like this," employee Marlene Kohnen said. "He's such a nice guy, always in here joking with us and stuff."
Responded clerk Judy Curtis: "It doesn't have anything to do with being nice. It's about protecting your own."
Kentucky law allows store employees, in some situations, to defend themselves with a gun, said Kenton County Police Capt. Ed Butler.
Grand juries often are asked to decide, he said, whether the facts of an incident constitute enough of a threat for a clerk to shoot.
Under a Kentucky law passed in 1994, juveniles at least 14 years old who use guns in committing felonies are required to be tried as adults.
