Victims strike back: Thug gets a thrashing in store robbery attempt

Perhaps tired of being hassled by creeps and crooks, it’s not surprising to see what workers at this Hazelwood neighborhood market did to this would-be robber …

The robber likely thought the cover of darkness would help effect a clean getaway after his planned early-morning convenience store robbery. His plans went awry.

Story and photo by David F. Ashton
Being located right next to the MAX East Side Light Rail Line at SE 122^nd Avenue and E. Burnside Street, the MAX Mart & Deli has long been the target of hoodlums and robbers.

The outer East Portland 24-hour establishment was, for example, held up about six weeks ago, on June 4.

It happened again in the early hours of July 26. “At 5:25 a.m., Portland Police officers assigned to East Precinct responded to the report of an armed robbery in progress,” revealed Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.

But this time, things were different, Simpson added.

This “replica” gun is what the would-be bandit is said to have used in the mini-mart holdup. It certainly looks real – but it did him little good.

After the suspect came in to the store and pointed his gun at one of the clerks, yelling a request to open the cash register, employees responded by decking the gunman.

“The employees then grabbed on to the suspect, and fought with him until they were able to disarm him and get him onto the ground,” Simpson said.

Police say this man, 18-year-old Hanad Ali Haji, stands accused of trying to rob an outer East Portland convenience store.

Officers arrived and took 18-year-old Hanad Ali Haji into custody at 5:29 a.m. They also retrieved the replica firearm that employees say Haji used during the robbery. The original orange tip of this particular toy gun appeared to have been cut off to make it look real.
Apparently, Haji took quite a thrashing during the ensuing scuffle. Officers took him to Adventist Medical Center for “treatment of minor injuries” before he was taken to the Bureau’s Detective Division headquarters.

When Haji was eventually booked into the Multnomah County Jail at 10:07 a.m., he was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor: Robbery in the Second Degree, Coercion, and Menacing.

Haji remains in custody in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

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