Gunman Robs Grocery, Escapes Police In Woods

Tulsa police scoured the city Saturday night for a gunman who eluded officers in a wooded area north of Newblock Park after holding up a neighborhood grocery in northwest Tulsa. The bandit, carrying a .45 caliber automatic and wearing a white mask, got $107 from the Furr Grocery and Market at 1822 W. Edison St. He wrecked his stolen getaway car about 15 minutes after the 6:30 P.m. robbery when patrolman Gary Glanz spotted him in the 2500 block of W. Easton St.

Dogs searched the area for two hours without success. Both the money and the holdup gun were recovered in the car, which was stolen around Saturday noon at 300 S. Boston Ave.

Officers believed the bandit to be the same one, who, disguised in a woman’s wig and sunglasses, made off with a large amount of cash in a Friday night holdup. They said the Furr grocery robber’s description and weapon was similar to those of the man who held up the Cardinal Food Store at 861 N. Sheridan Road.

Patrolman Glanz pursued the getaway car about 10 blocks before it crashed into a drainage ditch in the 3100 block of West Easton Street. The bandit jumped from the car as Glanz’s patrol car braked to a stop nearby and was momentarily flooded in the officer’s spotlight beam.

Glanz fired a warning shot over the gunman’s head as he darted across a yard into the wooded area.

C.L. Furr said the robber entered his store and said, "This is a holdup and I’m not playing," as he pointed the pistol at him. Furr’s wife, his 10-year-old nephew and two customers were in the store at the time.

"It seemed like he was there a half hour, but I guess it was only five minutes." Furr recounted. He said the robber took all money that was in the cash register and ordered him to put it in a grocery sack.

Furr said the bandit, wearing blue jeans, was about 24 and about medium height and build. He said he wore a white handkerchief over his face and was hatless.