Accused armed robbers: Clash between clerk with big stick and crook with knife -- caught on camera

WANTED IN SEATTLE -- Seattle police say the main suspect in an armed robbery pulled a knife in a gas station and yelled, “Don’t touch me or I'll kill you.” That had two store clerks going for their sticks to defend themselves. Surveillance video shows one of them swinging it at the suspect who turned a simple shoplifting into an armed robbery. "In this case we have three suspects,” says Ret. Det. Myrle Carner with Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound. “There are two males and one female. They go into the store. They kind of divide up and they immediately start stealing things.” Detectives say the suspect in the green hooded sweatshirt grabbed a bag of chips and walked toward a doorway at the rear of the store where he tried to conceal them, but one of the clerks is watching. "He confronts him and says ‘Hey, would you like to pay for this,’ and the guy just kind of brushes him aside.” The suspect then went to the counter and you can see in the video the other two people with him watching -- the guy in the plaid shirt and the girl. You can see her walking back and forth at one point saying something but we don't what. Then all three suspects come close to the clerk and you can see him with his hands up trying to talk to them. That's when another clerk behind the counter arms himself with a stick and comes around to help his coworker. "All of a sudden the suspect pulls out a pretty good sized knife,” says Carner. “He gets in a very offensive mode. It looks like he's probably been trained in Martial Arts or something.” In the video, you can take a closer look of the suspect with the knife over his head, and then another one of him in a bladed fighting stance. That's when the clerk defended himself by swinging the stick at him, even breaking it and almost gets cut. At one part of the video he lunges at the victim. The victim's able to step back and take a swipe at him. At that time, the suspect turns around and exits the store and as he's leaving the victim takes another swing at him and misses. The clerk then orders the other two suspects to leave and both employees follow them out. "We have a shoplifting incident that turned bad. We could have had a homicide,” says Carner. “This guy obviously meant to cut the victim, but fortunately the victim lived in this case.

Of the three suspects, the woman’s face is the clearest on the video. She looks to be in her late 20's, 5’5”, and about 175 pounds. She was wearing a lighter green jacket and grayish-colored pants. Detectives say she stole a bag of chips.

The second suspect wearing a yellow and gray plaid shirt and blue jeans is shorter, about 5’2”, and 155 pounds. He didn't take anything.

The primary suspect with the knife was wearing a green hoodie with black pants. He was described as clean shaven with a dark complexion. He's 6’2”, and weighs 160 pounds. If you know who any of these people are, call an anonymous tip into: CRIME STOPPERS: 1-800-222-TIPS You must call the Crime Stoppers hotline with your tip to be eligible to receive a cash reward for information leading to a fugitive’s arrest. CLICK HERE for information on how to TEXT A TIP to Crime Stoppers