Attempted robbery goes awry in Trenton

TRENTON -- A man who tried to rob a liquor store Monday night sat down and cried when he encountered resistance from the senior citizen behind the counter, police said.

Edwin Calix, 19, was arrested and charged with robbery by cops who arrived at Sykes Liquor Store on the 300 block of South Broad Street moments after the 8:30 p.m. attempt.

Police say Calix walked into the liquor store and asked for the price of a liter of Hennessey. While 76-year-old Jeff Wadkins was checking on his request, Calix allegedly grabbed a liter bottle and bolted for the door.

"This kind of thing happens all the time," Wadkins said last night.

Keying a magnetic lock switch, Wadkins was able to secure the front door and trap Calix inside, police said. That's when, police said, Calix pulled out a handgun, pointed it at Wadkins and demanded he be let out of the store. But Wadkins said he was already on the phone with police at that point.

"He said, 'I don't want to shoot you,'" Wadkins said of Calix. "I had the police on the phone already and I said to the police, 'did you hear what he said?'"

Wadkins said he knew the would-be robber posed no threat. "It was a fake gun, he wasn't armed," he said.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Pedro Medina, Calix then panicked. "The suspect ran to the back of the store attempting to find a way out, but it was not his lucky day," Medina said.

Unable to locate a second doorway, police said, Calix threw what he had brandished into the basement, returned to the front of the store, sat down and began crying.

"He just came up and sat on the floor and started crying," Wadkins said, adding he had never seen that before. "I had guys try to break the door down, one guy almost did it one time."

Wadkins said he probably would have let Calix out if thought the gun was real, but was not going to release the lock as long as the suspect was unarmed. "I certainly wasn't going to turn him loose," Wadkins said.

As they both waited for police officers to show up, Wadkins said Calix kept crying, and said only a few things that were comprehensible. "I believe he said, 'I have a child,'" Wadkins said.

After the attempted robbery, the threats at what was intended to be gunpoint, and after the tears, Wadkins was asked, did he feel sorry for Calix?

"I guess," he said after some thought.