Robbers ambush clerk, drag him at gunpoint through store

A Macon store worker was opening up when he was ambushed by two gunmen Wednesday morning.

At about 5:40 a.m., Insik Lim unlocked the ice machine and was opening the security gate at the front door of the Marathon at 6199 Thomaston Road.

Two people with their faces covered came up behind him, he said.

"I think they were hiding back there and waiting for me," Lim said, pointing to the bushes on the right side of the store at the corner of Price Road. "Two guys have the masks and guns."

One of the robbers put the gun to the back of Lim's head.

"They want me to open the door," he said. " 'Five-four-three-two-one,' they count down."

When Lim wasn't moving fast enough for them, he was clobbered with the gun twice, he said.

A bump remained on the left side of his head.

They forced him to turn off the alarm system and wanted money from the cash drawers, which were empty.

The masked man in a gray, hooded sweatshirt checked the front door a couple of times to make sure no one was coming.

The other robber, who was wearing what appeared to be a short, dark-colored, hooded jacket over a white shirt, dragged Lim through the store looking for money.

"Where's the big money?" one of them asked as he counted down again as if Lim only had seconds to comply before they would shoot.

The gun barrel continually was up against Lim's head in surveillance images recorded on the store's cameras.

"They made me to crawl on the ground," Lim said.

After finding a money bag with cash, the gunman demanded the coins from the gaming machines, but Lim told him they were empty.

The lookout took packages of T-shirts off the wall, but dropped most of them behind on the floor.

He also swiped a carton of Swisher Sweets cigars from the counter as the gunman dragged Lim to the front doors.

"We've got to go. We've got to go," one of them said before they left through the front doors, headed toward Price Road near the fire station.

One firefighter reportedly heard someone in the woods where the box of cigars taken from the store was later found.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or phone anonymous tips to Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68-CRIME.

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 8:13 AM.