A Newark Sunoco gas station convenience store clerk whose life was threatened by an armed robber early Thursday morning is thanking God that a police officer intervened and saved his life.
NEWARK -- A Newark Sunoco gas station convenience store clerk whose life was allegedly threatened by an armed robber early Thursday morning is thanking God that a police officer intervened and saved his life.
"By the grace of God, the police officer came in. He told the man to put the gun down. When he didn't put the gun down, the police officer shot him," said 39-year-old Eric Afriyie.
"(The robber) said something would happen to me (if I didn't open the safe)."
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Afriyie, a Newark resident, immigrated to the U.S. from Ghana and has worked at the Washington Street gas station for four years.
Afriyie recalled that after midnight, two unmasked men came into the store and began demanding money. One of them came to the counter with a gun and asked him to unload the register, Afriyie said.
Afriyie said he opened the first register and there was nothing inside. He opened the second register, and there was money. After taking the money, the man told him to open the store safe, and when Afriyie said he didn't have the key, the man threatened him, the clerk said.
At that point, he said, a police officer came into the store, and told the accomplice to lay down on the ground and told the armed man to put down his gun, Afriyie said. When he didn't, the officer shot him in the stomach, Afriyie said. He did not know the current condition of the shot man, who was taken away on a stretcher.
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office's chief assistant prosecutor told NJ Advance Media that the man was transported to the University Hospital for treatment and the other man was taken into police custody. A source close to the investigation said the involved officer had just gone into the store to buy a beverage.
Afriyie expressed amazement about the officer's perfectly-timed arrival.
"(The officer) came on time. It's like God, maybe God (brought) him to save us, that's what I'm saying," he said. "If it was not (for) him, that guy, he would have done the wrong thing."
Pointing out that he was behind the register when the store was robbed "last week," he said he is now confused and unsure of what to do.
"My mind is not with myself right now. I can't take this now," he said. "The place is not safe. The whole job is not safe."
A manager at United Liquor, a store a few hundred feet away from the gas station, told NJ Advance Media that his shop was closed when the incident took place, but said he understood Afriyie's concerns.
Gustavo Araya said he talks to his liquor store customers behind a plastic wall for his safety, but that the news about the gas station robbery had him feeling distressed.
"I don't feel good about that, to have that happen in the neighborhood, but we just try to be kind of better because it's not easy," he said. "We have that (plaster barrier) thing, that's better for us. That's why that's never happened here."
Laura Herzog may be reached at lherzog@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LauraHerzogL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.