Holley Tom Thumb robbed at knifepoint

A store clerk working at the Tom Thumb in Holley was robbed at knifepoint on Sept. 18 when two armed robbers entered the store and ordered her to open the register.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a hold-up alarm about 10 p.m. at the Tom Thumb on State Road 87 in Holley. Dispatch advised that it attempted to contact the store by phone seven times but was unsuccessful.

According to the incident report, an officer made contact with the store clerk who he reported “was visibly shaken up and crying.” She told officers that two subjects entered the store and robbed her. She said one approached her with a knife while she was in the back of the store and told her, “You won’t get hurt if you just open the register.”

The clerk said she then walked around the counter to the register while the male subject followed her with a knife. She said the second subject was behind the counter grabbing tobacco products. She opened the register and the first subject took the money out of it. Both subjects then exited the store together.

The clerk told officer she thought the subjects went southbound, but she wasn’t sure whether they were in a vehicle or on foot. She said both males were wearing “low baggy shorts” and wearing gloves and possibly a sock or ski mask over their heads. Because they were wearing shorts, the clerk said she could see that the subjects were black.

The case was turned over to the major crimes unit and no other information is available at this time. The amount of money stolen was redacted from the incident report.