A lone attendant at a Shell Gas Station robbed at gun point. More than an hour later the suspected robber found passed out in Walmart.
The Grand Traverse County Sheriff says the call came in just before 5 a.m. Friday.
They say a Manistee man robbed the Shell Gas Station in Grawn on U.S. 31 and West Silver Lake Road.
“Every single day I think what would happen if someone did walk through the door with a gun.”
It’s a moment gas station attendant Matthew Knapp never imagined would happen for real.
“I turn around and see a gentleman standing there and I ask him are you looking for anything then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a gun.”
He gave him the cash from the register and was told to wait five minutes before calling 911. It’s what the owners of the gas station, Schmuckal Oil, says followed procedure. They say there’s limited amount of cash in the registers for incidents like this.
Knapp says, “When I was calling the police I really don’t know what I could feel because my heart was racing so fast I really couldn’t feel anything.”
Deputies responded with tracking dogs.
Then around 7 a.m. the same day, they got a call from Walmart saying they were evacuating because there was a man with a gun.
Captain Chris Clark from Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office says, “A 25 year-old man from Manistee appeared to be passed out in the store. When he was confronted by an employee of Walmart he got up and ran and reached towards his waistband to a handgun. Once he was detained we were able to determine that the hand gun was actually a pellet gun.”
They also found money on him and clothes that match the description of the armed robber.
No was hurt at the gas station or Walmart, but Matthew Knapp says, it’s an experience that will stick with him.
“I hear a lot of people say if someone sticks a gun up they would do something about it but until it actually happens you don’t know what you’re going to do.”
Schmuckal Oil says they will help Matthew recover from this traumatic incident.
The Manistee man was taken to the hospital for an evaluation and then will got to the Grand Traverse County Jail.
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