Robbery suspect locked in Modesto convenience store

A convenience store employee locked a robbery suspect in the store until police arrived in north Modesto early Monday morning.

The incident occurred at about 1:37 a.m. at the AMPM at 2600 Coffee Road, where the suspect didn’t have enough money to buy the two bottles of malt liquor he wanted, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves.

The suspect walked around the counter, pushed the employee and told him he was going to assault and rob him.

The employee locked down the store, preventing not only the suspect from leaving, but several other customers, Graves said.

They’d all been locked in the store for about 10 minutes when officers arrived. It’s unclear what the suspect was doing during that time but he did not assault anyone as he’d threatened, Graves said.

Officers arrived and apprehended the suspect. Timothy Pennington, 36, of Modesto, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and probation violation.

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Robbery suspect locked in Modesto convenience store."