This is an interesting article I found in todays local newspaper:
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/8950817.htm
Posted on Fri, Jun. 18, 2004
Earning a living is hard, sure, but this is ridiculous
By MARK GUYDISH
WILKES-BARRE - "Yeah," Walter Letanski said on the store phone shortly after the robbery. "Your mother does have a broken wrist and an ankle sprain. They sent her up to get a cast. It's broken in two places."
The snatch-and-run saga that left Karen Letanski sprawled on the ground outside the family store happened with lightening speed, but the effects will last for months.
"Three guys in their 20s came in," explained Walter, owner of Walter's Hardware on Coal Street, on Thursday afternoon. "Two were at the counter talking to my wife. The third guy was over in the hobby department."
Walter was near the back of the store. His wife grew suspicious when one of the men talking to her made eye gestures, apparently to the man behind her.
That man then grabbed a gas-powered, remote-control model truck and ran out the door, with Karen following. The two other men charged out behind her, hitting her in the back and knocking her down. "I heard my wife scream," said Walter, who would not disclose his wife's age.
It was not going to be an easy escape, though.
A customer in the parking lot saw the commotion and followed the three in his vehicle as they ran up a side street, hopped in a car and sped off. The customer continued to follow, Walter said, until the culprits went the wrong way on a one-way street.
One of the three men had been in the store before, about a month ago, Walter said. He came in with another person - not one of those who robbed the store Thursday - and that person tried to buy a model car with a check. But a call to the bank revealed the check was no good, so the men left.
The previous visit, the bouncing check and the parking lot witnesses gave police "a lot of good leads," Walter said, increasing the odds the men will be caught. He praised Wilkes-Barre police for their speedy response.
The toy the men stole? A Horizon Hobby HPI Nitro monster truck worth $400. If it's not recovered, that's money out of Walter's profits. The insurance deductible is more than twice the car's value.
But that's not important, of course. His wife is. He fears she'll be hobbled by the injuries for months.
Which also makes work at the store harder. She's part of the staff, along with his kids. "We really have a family business here," he said, his voice trailing off for a moment.
Then he picked up again. He described the three robbers as white men of average height - 2 or 3 inches shy of 6 feet - and thin.
"It would have been better if it had been my son," at the counter when the thieves struck, Walter said. "They wouldn't have knocked him down."
A customer interrupted, asking for help and guiding Walter to the boxes of gas-powered, remote-control vehicles.
"My son wants one with four-wheel drive," she said.
Obviously, he wants to get his the honest way.
Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer
Walter Letanski, owner of Walter's Hardware on Coal Street in Wilkes-Barre, recounts the theft of a remote control model car Thursday afternoon. Two of the three thieves knocked his wife down when they ran, breaking her wrist.