HOUSTON, Texas – A man wearing a long, curly black wig and black paint on his face and hands held up a Southeast Houston shoe store and the clerk at the store says she is lucky to be alive.
The clerk at Shoe 3 for $25 said the man shoved a gun in her face during the armed robbery at the store on Telephone Road.
"I saw a man with a cheap black wig, a hat and he was painted black, and he had a plaid shirt on," said Noemi Gonzales.
When he walked up to the counter carrying a shoe box, she thought he was ready to check out, until she noticed the gun.
"He put the gun next to the shoebox, and he says, ‘give me all your money,' " says Gonzales.
She gave him the cash in the register but he also demanded the money from the safe. He then forced her to get on the ground in the storage room.
"He said, ‘lay down there and you better stay there for 10 minutes or I will shoot you,' " Gonzales recounted.
The man also stole her cell phone. Fearing that he was still in the store, Gonzales said she waited a few minutes and then ran next door to the Subway restaurant and called police. She said she isn't surprised that someone would try to rob the store because it is not the first time crooks have targeted that area.
"My car got broken into a week ago, here ,right in front," said Gonzales.
The clerk is hoping somebody saw something outside the store after the robbery that could help lead to an arrest.
She described the gunman as wearing a shoulder length curly black wig with a hat and a plaid shirt. She believes the man is Hispanic. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (713) 222-TIP.