AUDIO: 911 phone call during robbery of Family Dollar in Greenville
The Family Dollar on 114 W Grove St. in Greenville was robbed Jan. 5 2012 at around 8:30 p.m.
GREENVILLE — On Jan. 5, 2012, the Family Dollar in Greenville was robbed at gunpoint.
According to the Greenville Department of Public Safety, the robber apparently walked in to the store at 114 W Grove St. around 8:30 p.m. armed with a handgun and wearing a black ski mask.
The suspect pointed a handgun at the cashier and demanded cash. Two employees emptied the contents of the cash register, then locked themselves in the manager’s office in the back of the store with a customer who was in the store at the time and called 911.
The Daily News, using the Freedom of Information Act, acquired the audio from the 16-minute 911 call made that night.
This video includes an 8-minute portion of that audio, which has been edited to protect the individuals involved.
During the 911 call, police treated the incident as a hostage situation when they arrived because the suspect’s whereabouts were unknown at the time. No one was injured.
Police immediately set up a perimeter armed with large rifles. Patrol officers entered the building and brought the customer and both employees outside to safety.
Police are still looking for a man about six feet tall and 170 pounds wearing green gloves, black boots, dark colored jeans and a gray and white plaid hoodie with a white hood.
They are not sure of the suspect’s last known location or direction of travel.
Anyone with information on the suspect or his whereabouts is asked to call Montcalm County Central Dispatch at (989) 831-5253, Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345 or the Greenville Department of Public Safety at (616) 754-9161.
This was the second armed robbery in Greenville in three months. Huntington Bank downtown was robbed at gunpoint on Nov. 9.
The FBI is handling that case. Agents have reported little progress in the investigation.
i would just like to give the dispatcher who was on duty the night of the family dollar robbery a huge thank you. I just listened to the 8 minute of the 911 call and she did an amazing job. she stayed so calm and kept the employees there very calm and got information needed without upsetting the employees.. that dispatcher deserves a huge thankyou and great job. glad to see there are people out there that care…..