70-year-old woman suffers 11 stitches flighting men trying to rob her small ice cream shop

© Ogo’s Ice Cream & Foods/Fb
Penticton, B.C., ice-product store operator Sharon Brown, next from right, is flanked by neighborhood firefighters who frequented her with a pot of sunflowers immediately after her store was robbed final Wednesday morning.

Sharon Brown ran her minor ice-cream shop in downtown Penticton, B.C., peacefully for eight years — until previous week.

While Brown prepped for the working day at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday at Ogo’s Ice Product retailer, two males broke in with a hammer and a screwdriver, demanding she open the income sign up.

“When I initially saw them, I thought it was the young children enjoying a joke on me,” Brown, 70, said Monday to Sarah Penton, the host of CBC’s Radio West. “It didn’t even occur to me that it would be a theft.”

In accordance to Penticton RCMP, both equally male suspects donned a black mask. The to start with 1 wore a gray hoodie, gray sweat pants and white superior-major runner shoes, whilst the 2nd 1 wore a black sweatshirt.

Violent armed robbery

Brown states she has lived in the South Okanagan town for a lot more than 40 several years, but hardly ever encountered a violent incident in her neighbourhood and at her enterprise.

“I was screaming and kicking and making an attempt to get the hammer from them, and they retained pushing me forward to the chair so that they could get the income.

“I am continue to trying to fight them off because I am identified that they’re not going to get my tough-attained money, which is most likely silly to do. But I did it, and then a person dude strike me with a hammer,” she stated.

Brown experienced 11 stitches and several bruises on her arm — injuries police say were not life-threatening and that ended up addressed at the scene by paramedics.

The robbers couldn’t pry open up the till, so they took the complete till away, Brown included.

“He took my cellular phone and I said, ‘Please you should not choose my cell phone for the reason that I have all my small business stuff in there.’ And he just stated, ‘I won’t.’ And he set it down near the back again [door], so I experienced to run to get the cellphone.”

The Mounties say a number of officers arrived shortly following.

© Google Maps
Ogo’s Ice Product retail outlet is situated on Principal Road of downtown Penticton.

Brown says she’s thankful for the too much to handle guidance of her neighbours.

“The neighborhood has been certainly astounding — from clients bringing flowers, supplying donations … local dining establishments have donated funds.”

She suggests a nearby business helped her install a protection procedure at her store on Friday.

Penticton RCMP say there was heavy pedestrian targeted visitors all-around Ogo’s Ice Cream at the time of the theft.

They’re asking anyone with related information about the incident to get hold of RCMP at 250-492-4300 or, to stay nameless, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.