Knife Held To 3-Year-Old Child’s Neck In Tobacco Shop Robbery

Location: Tobacco Express, 16465 Pulaski Highway, Bear, Delaware, New Castle County

Date of Occurrence: Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 10:23 p.m.

Suspect(s): Black male, 25 – 30 years old, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, tan pants and a baseball cap.

Resume: Most police officers will tell you that the crimes that bother them the most are those that involve the helpless and children- this crime is no exception.

At 10:23 p.m. last evening, Troopers were called to the Tobacco Express on Pulaski Highway for a knife point robbery. This investigation revealed a black male suspect entered the store and approached the service counter. He was armed with a large knife and walked up behind the store owner and surprised her. He grabbed the store owner’s 3-year-old daughter and held a knife to her neck and demanded money.

The mother grabbed her daughter and pulled her away from the suspect. The suspect then wielded the knife and held it toward the mother’s 14-year-old son who subsequently received a superficial wound on his stomach.

The suspect obtained the night deposit bag from the business and fled the store with same.

The 14-year-old boy was treated at the scene and was not transported to the hospital.

Detectives are diligently working this case and do not have any surveillance video to disseminate at this time.

Anyone with information pertaining to this case is asked to call investigators at 302-834-2630 ext. 6 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.