Staff report

SPENCER — A man who appeared to be waiting for the Dollar General Store to open Sunday morning ended up robbing it.

Spencer Police Officer N.W. Pacilio said the man was sitting in a late-1990s model gray Ford Crown Victoria in the parking lot at 335 N. Salisbury Ave., in the Food Lion Plaza, when the manager arrived around 8:45 a.m.

Officer N.W. Pacilio said the man asked the manager, "Are you open yet?"

A minute or so later, as the manager opened the door, the man jumped him from behind and displayed a handgun.

He forced the manager to open the store safe and removed $4,800 in cash.

The robber then bound the manager's hands with plastic zip ties. He left the building and got in the Crown Victoria and drove off.

The manager saw the suspect leave the building then got up and ran to the adjacent Food Lion store.

"They cut him free," said Pacilio.

The manager was the only person in the store at the time of the robbery. He was not injured.

Officer Pacilio said a Dollar General surveillance camera captured images of the robber, but the store hadn't released a still photo to police as of late Sunday.

Police described the robber as a black man wearing a knit cap and a dark-colored, hooded jacket.