Greeley, CO, Jun. 3--Three men robbed a 74-year-old employee of Carpets by Brent at gunpoint on Wednesday afternoon after spraying him in the face with Mace, as reported in the Greeley Tribune.
Roger Gale's eyes were still watery an hour later, and the color matched a cherry red bruise below his collarbone, where the robbers struck him. Until the men attacked him, Gale thought they were joking about robbing him, he said.
It was about 1:30 p.m. and Gale was on a business call from Denver when the suspects, wearing bandanas, walked into the store. At first, he refused their demands for cash. But he realized they were serious when they beat, maced and threatened to shoot him.
They took Gale into the back room of the store and made him lie down while they fled the scene in his white, 1993 Lincoln Continental.
"From there I don't know what happened," he said.
Gale, who lives alone since his wife passed away, is worried because the suspects also took his wallet and house keys.
The car was found a few hours later abandoned near Colo. 257 and U.S. 34, according to Evans Police. Authorities aren't sure if anything was stolen from the store as the business owner is out of state.
Barry Powell talked to his brother Brent, the owner, in Mexico shortly before the robbery happened. He said the store was broken into last week, and a compressor and stereo were stolen.
