JackBurtonJr
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Owner of shop where suspect was killed: 'He came after' my family
Noel Nagi says he was ready to give the gun-toting would-be robber the cash - about $150. "Just don't do anything crazy. There's a baby."
Around the counter-top corner, Nagi's 7-month-old grandson was perched on his father's knee. His mother, Nagi's daughter, stood nearby.
"I don't give a f—," Nagi recalls the man saying as he pivoted and leveled the gun at the boy.
Then a customer pulled open the A1A Discount Beverage door. In a heartbeat, the gunman was distracted.
The father, Yamen Abdelfattah, handed off the infant to its mother. She rushed him to the closed office in two steps. The gunman's attention and weapon then returned to Nagi, the store's owner. And the babe's father, a gun-carrying veteran of the check-cashing business, pulled his weapon, rounded the corner and fired.
"Five, six times, I don't know. I've never shot someone," 29-year-old Abdelfattah said, retelling the story Monday morning from the very chair he and his son were in last night at the shop in suburban Lake Worth at 3747 Military Trail just south of 10th Avenue North.
"We believe the employees of the store got the upper hand on him," Palm Beach County Sheriff's Sgt. Rick McAfee said Sunday night, as investigators combed the scene - a man's body still lying inside the doorway, glass from the door shattered around him.
The robber was identified as Robert C. Martin, 35, of 2781 2nd Ave, North Lot 43, Lake Worth.
Martin was responsible for at least one other robbery in suburban Lake Worth, at the Stop and Shop, located at 3802 S. Congress Ave. on Sept. 9. Martin showed a handgun to the clerk and got away with approximately $400 in cash, said sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera.
"We're not expecting charges at this time, but it will be turned over to the State Attorney's Office," Barbera said.
Come Monday morning, Nagi had opened again for business. Customers simply had to push carefully on the emptied glass door.
"I feel sorry for the guy and his family," Nagi said. "But we didn't go after him, he came after us."
And it's not the first time that's happened.
Nagi, a native of Lebanon, opened this little strip-mall grocery at in 1992. Nagi said he was robbed within months - a man pointed a double barreled shotgun at his chest and forced him to the back of the store. Nagi said when the armed man was distracted, Nagi grabbed the gun. He ran, but was caught and served three years in jail, Nagi said.
But Nagi isn't about to quit the little shop where you can get a jar of seasoned pork feet, a can of tuna, some candy corns or a six-pack of Heineken. "What else would I do?" And where else could he do it and still chat with friends and family?
The would-be robber Nagi describes this time started off friendly, smiling even.
Came in and headed for the wall of chilled sodas, beers and his choice, Gatorade, Nagi said. Then he came to the register and asked, "How much for a pack of cigarettes." But rather than go for a wallet, he pulled out a gun.
Abdelfattah had brought his family from their home in Royal Palm Beach to visit his father-in-law. Nagi works so much, it's hard for them to get together, they said. Abdelfattah's had run-ins with robbers too.
"I own a check cashing business. I've been robbed twice. Machine guns," Abdelfattah said. He bought his gun a year ago, Nagi said. The only thing he'd shot at before Sunday night was a target, Abdelfattah said.
He said someone asked why he fired so many shots. He shrugged, "How many shots does it take to kill someone? I don't know."
But he said, "It's family first."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/15/0915fatalrob.html
Noel Nagi says he was ready to give the gun-toting would-be robber the cash - about $150. "Just don't do anything crazy. There's a baby."
Around the counter-top corner, Nagi's 7-month-old grandson was perched on his father's knee. His mother, Nagi's daughter, stood nearby.
"I don't give a f—," Nagi recalls the man saying as he pivoted and leveled the gun at the boy.
Then a customer pulled open the A1A Discount Beverage door. In a heartbeat, the gunman was distracted.
The father, Yamen Abdelfattah, handed off the infant to its mother. She rushed him to the closed office in two steps. The gunman's attention and weapon then returned to Nagi, the store's owner. And the babe's father, a gun-carrying veteran of the check-cashing business, pulled his weapon, rounded the corner and fired.
"Five, six times, I don't know. I've never shot someone," 29-year-old Abdelfattah said, retelling the story Monday morning from the very chair he and his son were in last night at the shop in suburban Lake Worth at 3747 Military Trail just south of 10th Avenue North.
"We believe the employees of the store got the upper hand on him," Palm Beach County Sheriff's Sgt. Rick McAfee said Sunday night, as investigators combed the scene - a man's body still lying inside the doorway, glass from the door shattered around him.
The robber was identified as Robert C. Martin, 35, of 2781 2nd Ave, North Lot 43, Lake Worth.
Martin was responsible for at least one other robbery in suburban Lake Worth, at the Stop and Shop, located at 3802 S. Congress Ave. on Sept. 9. Martin showed a handgun to the clerk and got away with approximately $400 in cash, said sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera.
"We're not expecting charges at this time, but it will be turned over to the State Attorney's Office," Barbera said.
Come Monday morning, Nagi had opened again for business. Customers simply had to push carefully on the emptied glass door.
"I feel sorry for the guy and his family," Nagi said. "But we didn't go after him, he came after us."
And it's not the first time that's happened.
Nagi, a native of Lebanon, opened this little strip-mall grocery at in 1992. Nagi said he was robbed within months - a man pointed a double barreled shotgun at his chest and forced him to the back of the store. Nagi said when the armed man was distracted, Nagi grabbed the gun. He ran, but was caught and served three years in jail, Nagi said.
But Nagi isn't about to quit the little shop where you can get a jar of seasoned pork feet, a can of tuna, some candy corns or a six-pack of Heineken. "What else would I do?" And where else could he do it and still chat with friends and family?
The would-be robber Nagi describes this time started off friendly, smiling even.
Came in and headed for the wall of chilled sodas, beers and his choice, Gatorade, Nagi said. Then he came to the register and asked, "How much for a pack of cigarettes." But rather than go for a wallet, he pulled out a gun.
Abdelfattah had brought his family from their home in Royal Palm Beach to visit his father-in-law. Nagi works so much, it's hard for them to get together, they said. Abdelfattah's had run-ins with robbers too.
"I own a check cashing business. I've been robbed twice. Machine guns," Abdelfattah said. He bought his gun a year ago, Nagi said. The only thing he'd shot at before Sunday night was a target, Abdelfattah said.
He said someone asked why he fired so many shots. He shrugged, "How many shots does it take to kill someone? I don't know."
But he said, "It's family first."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/local_news/epaper/2008/09/15/0915fatalrob.html
