New Castle, Delaware



From the Wilmington News Journal of December 13, 2004

Robber flees when victim pulls gun



State police have charged a 25-year-old Bear man in a string of liquor store robberies after police found him hiding under a porch as he fled a botched robbery attempt.



Michael A. Brown, of the first block of Barrister Court in Buckley off U.S. 40, was being held Sunday in the Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington for lack of $160,000 secured bail, said police spokeswoman Cpl. Helen Zane.



The manhunt began with the report of an attempted robbery at Chelsea Liquors, 8 Morris Road, near New Castle, shortly before 10 p.m. Friday, Zane said.



An armed, masked man walked up to a 52-year-old employee, but ran away when the employee produced a gun of his own, she said.



Police patrolling the area spotted a dark Acura with a Pennsylvania tag leaving the scene and followed the car to the neighborhood of Roselle off Kirkwood Highway, where a man jumped out of the car and ran, Zane said.



State troopers and New Castle County police flooded the area, Zane said.



Brown was found hiding under a porch in the first block of Roselawn Avenue, Zane said. Officers also found a gun and mask believed to have been used in the attempted robbery.