Police are looking for a man suspected of robbing a Dollar General on Saturday night after hiding inside the store.
Shortly before closing, the man entered the store at 2400 SE Hawthorne Road and hid until the employees locked the doors at around 9 p.m., said GPD spokesman Ben Tobias.
Tobias said the man hid near the store’s office for about 30 minutes until the manager entered the safe’s code. The man waited another 10 minutes until the safe’s delay ended and the manager returned.
Tobias said the man, described as wearing dark clothes and a bandana over his face, emerged from his hiding spot and held the manager and another employee at gunpoint.
The man took about $2,000 from the safe and tied the employees with duct tape.
Tobias said the man ripped out the wires from a surveillance device.
He tried to take the device, Tobias said, but couldn’t because it was bolted down. The man then smashed the device and poured bleach on it.
Tobias said he suspects the man who robbed the store may have been an employee.
“He certainly had knowledge of what he was doing,” he said.
Officers from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office tried to stop a Nissan Xterra driving recklessly near the robbery but were unsuccessful. Tobias said police do not know if the car is connected to the robbery.
Officers and K-9 units at the scene were unable to find the suspect.
Tobias said a GPD forensic team is trying to recover video files.
Anyone with information is asked to call GPD at 352-955-1818.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
