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November 4, 2009

Merchant exercises right to bear arms

Armed robberies spur gun purchase

By Joe Pinchot

MERCER COUNTY — Mike Mataria said he hates guns, but a second apparent armed robbery at one of his convenience stores “forced” him to buy one.

“I never thought of guns until this moment,” Mataria said Wednesday morning, a few hours after the robbery of his store in Grove City, Broad Street Market.

Mataria said he was prompted to check out a gun store because of the Broad Street Market robbery, three armed robberies last week in Sharon, Hermitage and Farrell, and an attempted armed robbery in Brookfield.

He bought a 9 mm handgun Wednesday at Elite Firearms, Hermitage, and plans to fire it for the first time Friday at the store’s indoor shooting range.

Mataria is a native of Palestine who has owned Sharpsville Food Mart for about seven years, and Broad Street Market for about three. He said this is the “scariest” time he’s had since he went into business.

“It’s going around,” he said.

Mercer County District Attorney Robert G. Kochems said he supports the ownership of guns and believes people should have a gun for self-protection. But, he cautioned against running off and trying to buy one on the spur of the moment, and suggested that anyone considering buying one put a lot of thought into any purchase.

He added that most store robberies occur when the owner is not on the premises.

“This owner going out and buying a gun is not helping his employees one whit,” Kochems said.

Mataria was not in the store at 327 N. Broad St. when it was robbed at 5:03 a.m. Wednesday.

Grove City police said the clerk was opening for business when a man followed her in the front door and demanded cash.

The man had his hand in a jacket pocket and pointed like he had a gun in the pocket, although the female clerk did not see one, Mataria said.

“She couldn’t take a chance,” he said. “She gave him all the money in the cash register.”

The white man was wearing a black jacket and hooded sweatshirt. A bandana covered the lower portion of his face, police said. He stood 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall, and ran northbound after leaving the store, police said.

Mataria said he fears he will lose Grove City employees.

“This morning, the girl from Grove City called, crying,” Mataria said.

While the three men who two years ago robbed Mataria’s Sharpsville Food Mart, 707 W. Ridge Ave., were caught within minutes, two female employees resigned because of it, Mataria said.

“It’s hard to find good people to work these days,” he said.

Mataria said he does not have high-quality digital cameras at the Grove City store, and does not believe they captured any images that are usable to police. The Sharpsville store has better cameras, but he said he plans to upgrade the camera systems in both locations.

Kochems said camera upgrades are worthy purchases for small retailers who could be subject to robberies. He also suggested buying good security systems, insurance to cover much of the loss in robberies, and explosive dye packs.

Store owners also need to accept “a certain amount of loss,” he said.

However, panic gun purchases might not be a good idea, he said. Gun owners need to learn how to use their weapons, and spend time with them, he said. An inexperienced gun handler could escalate an incident and cause more problems, he said.

Kochems added that, while those who read the newspaper might perceive that crime is up, figures kept by the DA’s office show that the number of criminal cases that make it to Mercer are down slightly from 2006.

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