zook
August 23, 2002, 10:55 PM
Front page story this morning.
http://www.readingeagle.com/re/main/1024653.asp
Store patron takes his gun and the law into his own hands
By Keith Mayer
Reading Eagle
Michael P. Gerth stopped Wednesday night at the Turkey Hill Minit Market in Green Hills just as he does every day for coffee, drinks or food.
But this time was different.
As he pulled up, a clerk ran out yelling that a man with a knife was inside robbing the store.
Gerth said he had about 10 seconds to think.
“Everything happened very quickly,” the 42-year-old Gerth of Brecknock Township said Thursday as he recounted his experience.
Seconds later, David M. Polynone the man police say used a large kitchen knife to rob 14 convenience stores since July 30 strode out, Gerth said.
"I'm licensed to carry (a gun), so I opened the glove box and put it on the seat and said, 'OK, what are we going to do here?' " Gerth said.
Gerth watched Polynone walk across Route 10 toward Interstate 176.
"I wanted to let him get away from the parking lot," Gerth said.
Gerth turned his vehicle around and drove after Polynone, cutting him off on the ramp, he said.
"I jumped out and put the gun on him and said, 'Stop or I'll shoot,' " Gerth said.
Polynone turned and ran up a hill with Gerth in pursuit. When Polynone jumped a fence, Gerth stopped chasing him.
Gerth turned around, drove the wrong way down the ramp and turned into a lane along Route 10, trying to cut off Polynone, he said.
When he did not see Polynone, he turned around, went back up the ramp and saw a pickup truck parked near the embankment.
Kimberly A. Kelly was in the truck, Gerth said.
"She was sitting in the truck ready to go," Gerth said. "She was looking up the hill as if she was waiting for someone."
Gerth said he pulled in front of the truck, got out, drew his weapon and went to the side of the truck and told Kelly to get out.
"She got real excited," he said.
"She pulled out, and I had to get out of her way or I'd get run over," he continued. "I wasn't going to shoot her. I wasn't going to shoot her tires."
Kelly, 30, Blue Ball, Lancaster County, was arrested a short time later in Kenhorst. She was charged as an accomplice in the Green Hills robbery.
Polynone, 35, who resided with Kelly, was arrested Thursday morning in Reading. He was charged in an Aug. 11 robbery in Exeter Township.
Police said Polynone used a large kitchen knife to hold up 14 stores in Berks, Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon and Montgomery counties.
Robeson Police Chief Mark T. Phillips called Gerth's efforts a big help in solving the case.
http://www.readingeagle.com/re/main/1024653.asp
Store patron takes his gun and the law into his own hands
By Keith Mayer
Reading Eagle
Michael P. Gerth stopped Wednesday night at the Turkey Hill Minit Market in Green Hills just as he does every day for coffee, drinks or food.
But this time was different.
As he pulled up, a clerk ran out yelling that a man with a knife was inside robbing the store.
Gerth said he had about 10 seconds to think.
“Everything happened very quickly,” the 42-year-old Gerth of Brecknock Township said Thursday as he recounted his experience.
Seconds later, David M. Polynone the man police say used a large kitchen knife to rob 14 convenience stores since July 30 strode out, Gerth said.
"I'm licensed to carry (a gun), so I opened the glove box and put it on the seat and said, 'OK, what are we going to do here?' " Gerth said.
Gerth watched Polynone walk across Route 10 toward Interstate 176.
"I wanted to let him get away from the parking lot," Gerth said.
Gerth turned his vehicle around and drove after Polynone, cutting him off on the ramp, he said.
"I jumped out and put the gun on him and said, 'Stop or I'll shoot,' " Gerth said.
Polynone turned and ran up a hill with Gerth in pursuit. When Polynone jumped a fence, Gerth stopped chasing him.
Gerth turned around, drove the wrong way down the ramp and turned into a lane along Route 10, trying to cut off Polynone, he said.
When he did not see Polynone, he turned around, went back up the ramp and saw a pickup truck parked near the embankment.
Kimberly A. Kelly was in the truck, Gerth said.
"She was sitting in the truck ready to go," Gerth said. "She was looking up the hill as if she was waiting for someone."
Gerth said he pulled in front of the truck, got out, drew his weapon and went to the side of the truck and told Kelly to get out.
"She got real excited," he said.
"She pulled out, and I had to get out of her way or I'd get run over," he continued. "I wasn't going to shoot her. I wasn't going to shoot her tires."
Kelly, 30, Blue Ball, Lancaster County, was arrested a short time later in Kenhorst. She was charged as an accomplice in the Green Hills robbery.
Polynone, 35, who resided with Kelly, was arrested Thursday morning in Reading. He was charged in an Aug. 11 robbery in Exeter Township.
Police said Polynone used a large kitchen knife to hold up 14 stores in Berks, Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon and Montgomery counties.
Robeson Police Chief Mark T. Phillips called Gerth's efforts a big help in solving the case.