Cwmbran woman fought off knife-wielding robber (From Free Press Series)

Cwmbran woman fought off knife-wielding robber

9:33am Saturday 16th February 2013 in News

BRAVE: Yoghesh and Sunita Parekh

A CWMBRAN shop owner bravely tried to fight off a robber armed with an eight-inch knife as he stole money from her till.

Sunita Parekh, 48, wrestled with the man at her shop, Richmond Wine on Richmond Road in Pontnewydd, on Wednesday, at around 5pm.

Mrs Parekh said: "He came in the shop, but he didn't buy anything. He had a dark scarf around his face.

"When a young boy came in, he shouted at him to get on the floor and tried to get to the till.

"He was holding this big kitchen knife, and he pushed me, but I managed not to fall as there was another stool behind me.

"I pushed him back, and then he pushed me again, and we were struggling with each other until he managed to open the till.

"I screamed, and then he grabbed some tens and twenties and ran.

"It was all over in about 10 seconds. I was very shaken afterwards."

Yoghesh Parekh, 51, her husband, said: "I was upstairs when I heard her scream, so me, my son and my brother-in-law all stormed downstairs, and he was already out the door by the time we got there.

"My son chased him through the lanes, and saw him dump some of the cash in a wheelie bin. He picked it up, so we actually got most of the cash back.

"We are lucky we did not have any injuries and no one was stabbed.

When I look back at the CCTV footage and see how big that knife was, I realise how lucky we are."

Son Mahesh, 27, said: "At first when I heard mum scream I thought it was my niece mucking around. When she screamed again I realised it was serious and we all ran downstairs.

"I jumped out the door and chased him thought the lanes, and I was shouting at him as I ran.

"Then he ran into the park and that's when I stopped chasing him.

"Luckily, I managed to grab the cash he tried to dump, or I think I'd still be after him now."