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Gas station clerk forced to beg for his life during armed robbery

Posted at 11:30 PM, Jul 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-28 23:30:57-04

A Polk county husband and father says he was forced to beg for his life when three young gunmen robbed Marathon Gas Station in Lakeland.

Polk county detectives responded to an armed robbery at Marathon Gas Station just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, located at 2045 Ariana Street.

According to the sheriff's office, all three men are between 5'6" and 6'0" in height, and in their 20's.

Surveillance video captured that night shows the three storming into the convenience store dressed in all black and wearing masks.

"They show me gun like this, I was hands up," said the clerk working that night, who asked we night reveal his identity.

The clerk tells ABC Action News, the gunman immediately demanded that he open the safe.

"He said 'if you don't open, I'm going to shoot you up and you're going to die tonight.'"

Video shows the clerk handing over what cash was readily available in the register.

He says all he could think about in those tense moments was his family.

"I have my wife, my kids… I'm scared to come to work now."

Investigators say the gunman not only threatened the clerk, he even pulled the trigger. The silver revolver did not fire.

Another employee working that night said, "They threatened to kill him if he didn't open the safe, he couldn't open the safe because the boss wasn't there. If they shot him, they probably would have shot me too."

The three men were in and out within two minutes.

Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact Detective Reveron with the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 863-298-6200.