Northwest Side store clerk tells of terrifying moments with knife-wielding robber

In just a few seconds, Ali Shaikh wondered whether his life would come to an end.

He was working an early shift on Wednesday at Sherry’s, a convenience store on Wurzbach Road not far from Timberhill Drive, when he had a frightening encounter with a man armed with a knife.

“He tried to engage me, ‘Oh, can I get the cigar?’” Shaikh said, describing how it all unfolded. “I just went there, and he has a knife.”

Shaikh said he had noticed the man on the store’s surveillance cameras, placing his bicycle behind the building and seemingly trying to cover up his face, and initially tried to distract him.

Once his back was turned, Shaikh said the man then reached over and tried to grab hundreds of dollars’ worth of scratch-off lottery tickets.

“He was jumping on me there to show me the knife, threatening me,” he said. “I was trying to press the panic button. But in my hand, there is a key. I just pressed this one. The door locked automatically.”

Shaikh said that after he accidentally locked the suspect inside the store, that man became even more violent.

He said he ran from the front door to a back door, frantically tugging on both in an attempt to escape.

Eventually, Shaikh was able to unlock the door, allowing the suspect to leave and call 911.

When San Antonio police arrived a few minutes later, the man had already pedaled away on his bicycle.

Crime Stoppers issued an appeal Monday, asking for tips and information on his identity.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (210) 224-STOP (7867).