Watch CBS News

Female Store Manager Fights Off Armed Robber In Brownsville, Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The search is on for a man police say robbed a Brooklyn store at gunpoint Friday afternoon.

Police said the man walked into the Belmont Medical & Surgical Supply Store at 14 Belmont Ave. in Brownsville just before 4:00 pm and demanded money from two female store employees.

He threw 28-year-old Oksana Aulova to the floor, but she fought back, kicking and hitting man.

"I honestly don't know what came over me. It was a fight or flight situation, I chose to fight," she told CBS2's Jessica Borg.

The man screamed and cursed at Aulova and her assistant, threatening to shoot them unless they handed over some money. But Aulova told Borg they don't even have a cash register in the store.

"We deal with insurances, so I don't know what he could have been thinking, because there's no cash," she said.

Her 44-year-old assistant gave the man $80 from her own wallet. He carefully counted the cash, then finally ran off when Aulova reached for a Taser.

"It's not the greatest of neighborhoods. I was prepared," she said.

Born in Uzbekistan and raised in Borough Park, Aulova said she's never been in a single fight.

Her husband of one year said he's grateful to have her back home.

"She's a very tough little girl. She's my wife, she's my everything," he said. "It could have been 10 times worse. And so I'm happy that it isn't, because she's still here, she's OK, and that's all that matters."

Aulova needed four stitches in her head after being hit with the man's gun, but otherwise, she's OK.

She said according to detectives, the robber had an accomplice who staked out the store to see when the women would be alone inside.

"It just angers me that somebody could come in and think that they could take advantage of two women, just because they're in an office," she said.

Aulova said investigators believe the robber is from the neighborhood and they were able to lift fingerprints from the store.

Her attacker is described as a black male between 40 and 50 years of age, approximately 5'11" tall and 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing beige work boots, blue jeans, a brown jacket, and a brown skull cap with a light brown stripe.

Anyone with information in regards to this robbery is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stopper's Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.