SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Before pointing a gun at a clerk and tying her up, the man looked through the glass of the Verizon store at 10 Mile and Evergreen roads in Southfield.
The robbery happened 5 minutes after the store opened at 9 a.m. Friday morning.
"He's dressed as a college student -- casual customer. He walks in very nonchalant," said Southfield Police Lt. Nick Loussia.
The surveillance video is unusually clear. When the clerk began to help the man, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver handgun.
"He then orders the clerk to the register to the register and orders her to give him all the money from the register. She complies. She is afraid she will be shot if she doesn't," said Loussia.
The man glanced down at the money as he forced the woman into a back room out of camera range.
"She opens the safe and gives him over a 1/2 dozen iPhones and then he tells her to turn around, put her hands behind her back. She does so. He takes out a zip tie and he zip-ties her wrists together," said Loussia.
He told the clerk not to move. A 1/2 hour later the woman escaped from the zip tie. She texted her boss who called police.
"She's OK. Fortunately she was not injured. She had minor scrapes on her wrists from wiggling out of the zip. She was obviously scared," said Loussia.
The man on surveillance is about 5 feet 7 inches tall with a medium build and dark complexion. When he entered the store he appeared to be smiling, police say.
A few days ago, police released an image of a man who stole an iPhone at a gas station. He took the woman's purse, too. When she tried to hold on he dragged her across the parking lot. Based on that photo, police identified the suspect.
Now, with this surveillance video police hope the public can help solve Friday's robbery.