TACOMA, Wash. — When a Tacoma convenience store owner was threatened with a knife during a robbery last week, he got the best of the suspect, defending himself with an even bigger knife.
Tacoma Police Department officers responded to the Salena One Market near South 11th Street and South Yakima Avenue on Feb. 5 just before 8 p.m. for reports of a robbery.
Naif Qatamin, who owns the Salena One Market, said the suspect pointed a knife at him and said, "Listen, this is a holdup." The suspect allegedly demanded Qatamin open the till and give him money.
Qatamin recalled he replied, "I don't think so, buddy," before picking up a machete. Surveillance video from inside the store shows Qatamin waving the machete at the suspect.
The owner said the robber fell backward, and he held the suspect with the machete to wait for police to arrive.
“I just want to scare him," Qatamin said. "I don’t want to hurt him.”
However, Qatamin's wife came into the store, and Qatamin said "she was scared for [the suspect]." Qatamin's wife got between him and the suspect, giving the suspect a chance to flee, the owner said.
“He was lucky my wife pushed me away,” Qatamin said.
Officers identified the suspect through witness interviews and surveillance footage. They tracked him down on Feb. 6 and arrested him.
Qatamin said the suspect was released later that day and returned to the Salena One Market, threatening to rob and kill Qatamin. The owner said his son's friends kept the suspect at the market until police arrived, and the suspect was arrested again.
The suspect was booked into the Pierce County jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery and felony harassment.
Qatamin, who has owned the Salena One Market since 2009, said this isn't the first time he's been robbed but it is the first time he's used the machete.
"It's been here for years," he said. "First time I ever touched it. I had to. I had no choice."