Clerk assaulted during robbery of food store

Winchester Police Officer Patrick Jefferson talks with a clerk at the Caribbean Food Store on Kern Street Tuesday night after he was assaulted during a robbery. (Photo by Ginger Perry/The Winchester Star)

WINCHESTER — City police Tuesday night were searching for three men who are believed to have robbed the Caribbean Food Store on the North End at gunpoint.

The men allegedly assaulted a clerk and ripped the phone out of the wall in the store — located at 226 Kern St. — at about 9 p.m. The call to police came in around 9:12 p.m.

Winchester Police Department spokesperson Lauren Cummings said a perimeter was set up and a canine unit was brought to the scene, but no one was found.

She said the perpetrators — all described as clean-shaven black males between the ages of 20 and 30 — entered the store and demanded money. One of the men displayed a gun.

The trio left the store on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and headed east on Kern Street.

One of the men was described as wearing a khaki suit, another in a gray jacket and the third in sweat pants.

According to Cummings, the store clerk did not seek medical attention.

Anyone with information about the robbery can call the police department at 540-545-4704 or Crime Solvers at 540-665-8477.

— Contact Melissa Boughton at mboughton@winchesterstar.com