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Police in Clearfield are looking for an armed man who targeted a certain kind of store for more than just quick cash. The man robbed the Black Velvet Boutique. He got the money but then stuck around for 20 minutes to steal adult toys and movies.
The clerk who was working was forced to help. "As soon as I saw his face, I knew I had seen him just a few hours before that," Shannon Phillips, the store clerk, said.
From customer to robber, police say the masked man was in the store yesterday, likely casing it out. He returned that night with a large, silver revolver. You can see it in the surveillance video.
Phillips was working alone. She feared the worst when the man walked in demanding money. "Just that my daughter wouldn't have a mother, possibly, so I just wanted to do everything to keep myself safe," she said.
The robber forced her to turn off the lights then took her to the back room. "He told me to grab a garbage bag and start filling it up," she said.
They filled three garbage bags with adult toys and movies. He forced Phillips to help him carry them to her car then ordered Phillips back in the store and demanded she handcuff herself to a display with toy handcuffs.
"I had the keys in my hand, so I'm thinking, ‘How dumb can you be, really?'"
The robber left in Phillips' car, which police found abandoned at a nearby apartment complex. They think his own car was parked there.
Police believe the man was on drugs and that the stolen toys, worth $8,000, will only help feed the habit.
Det. Kyle Jeffries, with the Clearfield Police Department, said, "Pornography, drugs, they do connect, and I would imagine that's what it's for. He's going to trade all that stuff for drugs in the future."
Police fear the man will strike again, and they want to find him before he does. If you recognize him, call Clearfield Police. The store's owner is offering a $1,000 reward.
Police have posted the surveillance video on the Clearfield City Web site hoping that will help get his picture out.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
