Sears robber at large

By Mark Boshnack
Staff Writer

June 06, 2009 04:00 am

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ONEONTA _ A midday Friday robbery at the Sears store on South Main Street is under investigation, Oneonta police said.

Nobody was injured in an incident that was over very quickly, police said.

Police were called at about 12:20 p.m. by 911. The act involved a lone white male, between 20 and 30 years old, with a scruffy beard, baseball cap, long-sleeve shirt and long pants, said Oneonta police Lt. Dennis Nayor.

The man approached an employee with what appeared to be an object hidden under a blue bandana, Nayor said. The man put the object against the male employee's back and demanded money, Nayor said. There were no customers in the store at the time.

The robber got away on a bicycle with an undisclosed sum of money, Nayor said, traveling up Market Street to Division Street.

Store owner Michelle Catan said, "I wouldn't have expected anything like this to happen in the middle of the day. I'm just glad no one was hurt."

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call police at 432-1113.