Big City Crime Strikes Small Town Business

For the first time in years, Rolesville police are looking for armed robbers.

Rolesville is usually a quite town. Less than 1,000 people live there. The town has not had an armed robbery at a business in more than a decade.

That all changed Sunday night when three men came into town armed with a sawed off shotgun.

Business owner Donald Eddins never thought his baseball card shop on Main St. would catch the eye of an armed robber.

"He goes over to the cases, and he looks at a $70 card. He said 'How in the world can a card be worth $70?'" Eddins explained.

A few minutes later, Eddins said that suspicious customer left and then came back with two more men and a sawed-off shotgun.

"He walks up to me, pokes me in the stomach and says 'This is a stick-up, and I came to get your money,'" said Eddins.

"I was surprised. It was unusual for this town," said Rolesville Police Chief Jimmy Green.

Green says this is the first time a crime like this has happened in the ten years he has been here. He says the scene played out in the store could happen again.

"Just because we are small doesn't make us immune to the violent crimes of bigger cities," Green said.

Even though the robbers caught Eddins off guard, he had a surprise in store for them behind the counter.

"I reached in, pulled out the little gun and told them I had a gun too," said Eddins.

Eddins ended up firing off two warning shots toward the robbers out in the parking lot. No one got hurt. But the robbers ended up getting away.

If you have any information, please call the Rolesville police.