Kingston store clerk fights off robber with hammer

 

KINGSTON (WATE) – A store clerk in Kingston managed to fight off a would-be robber with a hammer.

The Kingston Police Department says they were called to the Kenjo Market, 505 Gallaher Road on Wednesday for a possible robbery. The clerk said a man wearing a hoodie and jeans pointed a handgun and him and said he wanted the money in the cash register.

The clerk bent down as though he were looking for a bag for the money, but instead grabbed a claw hammer and hit the suspect in the arm. The suspect stumbled back and fell against the door. As the suspect was standing up, the clerk then threw the hammer at the suspect.

The suspect ran off in what the clerk said was a blue or gray Honda Odyssey toward Highway 70. Police in Loudon stopped a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle on Interstate 75. The occupants, Casy Sloan, 30, and Matthew Kelly, 41, were arrested on unrelated charges.