Tulsa Beating Victim Talks About Robbery Assault

A Tulsa mother is recovering from a beating she received during a robbery Tuesday. She told News on 6 anchor Tami Marler she's comforted to know, the owner of the store is going to great lengths to

Wednesday, May 31st 2006, 1:22 pm

By: News On 6

A Tulsa mother is recovering from a beating she received during a robbery Tuesday. She told News on 6 anchor Tami Marler she's comforted to know, the owner of the store is going to great lengths to prevent any future problems.

Tami Marler explains why criminals might think twice about robbing J&J Bargain Depot near Admiral and Peoria again.

Several customers came into J&J's, to inquire about the employee who'd been beaten and robbed the day before. To protect her identity, weâ€™ll call her Lisa. She's recovering at home, so we spoke by phone. "I wasn't even open an hour." The suspect had been in twice that morning, asking about merchandise. "He was actually asking about that dresser. You know the set over there. And he was asking more questions about how much is the price?"

Raphael Jacob owns J&J's. He says he's learned a lot from his first robbery in fifteen years. "My employee did the right thing. She opened every single drawer. Every single thing what he asked for."

Even before demanding that Lisa empty the register, the suspect hit her in the back of the head with a hammer. "I fell and he was going to hit me again and I begged him not to hit me again. He said the only reason he didn't keep beating me is because I was black and I had five kids." Jacob's employee says she could return to work as early as next week, and she says she's much more comfortable now, because she knows there will be extra security measures in place.

Tied up in the bathroom, Lisa somehow managed to get loose and push the panic button at the register. Now Jacob's making sure each of his clerks is armed and every customer is recorded. "Also we gonna put cameras in the door, then these panic buttons that will be like a necklace, but they'll be panic buttons. I think it's going to protect us a lot. Not only that, but take the fear away from employees here."

Lisa: "It scares me and concerns me but schools out and a couple of my kids will come with me and be with me while I'm there." Hopefully everyone will feel a little more secure.

The suspect is described as a black man in his 40â€™s, about 6-foot-1, 180 pounds. His head was clean-shaven.

The victim says he was carrying a job application and he told her he just moved here from out-of-state.

Tulsa Police are trying to determine whether the J&J's robbery is connected to an attack at Grandpa's Furniture, farther east on Admiral, last week.