Martell – An attempted robbery was foiled Friday at a bookstore in Martell when a clerk said “no” to a robber, who had passed her a note seeking cash and saying he had a gun. A cashier employed at the Lighthouse Christian Bookstore, located at 11984 Highway 88, Suite 2064, near Save Mart and Dollar Tree, reported the attempted robbery in a 9-1-1 call to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, at about 4:11 p.m. Friday. Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner in a release Monday said sheriff’s deputies and detectives responded and were on the scene and checking the area within minutes, but were not successful in locating the suspect. Based on witness statements and review of the store’s video surveillance system, Wegner said the suspect is a white male, approximately 55 to 60 years old, approximately 5-foot, 6-inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds, with grey hair and a grey goatee. He was wearing a dark blue baseball cap, dark blue long sleeve windbreaker style zip up jacket, brown knee length shorts, white ankle socks and black tennis shoes. Wegner said the suspect first entered the store at 3:46 p.m. and “appeared to be cognizant of the video surveillance cameras as he entered and ‘cased’ the store.” The suspect spent 8 minutes in the store, never speaking with anyone, before leaving. The suspect returned at 4:11 p.m. (17 minutes after leaving from his first visit to the store). Upon entering the store the second time, the suspect immediately approached the cashier and presented her with a bag and a note. The note said that the suspect had a gun and demanded that the cashier place money in the man’s bag. Wagner said “the cashier responded by saying ‘no’.” The suspect then told her to put money in the bag, and the cashier again refused. The suspect the “took the note and the bag and fled the area in an unknown direction.” There were no customers in the store during the attempted robbery, which took less than a minute. The cashier said the suspect never displayed a gun, nor did she observe any indication that the suspect was actually armed with a gun. Sheriff’s Office personnel were successful in locating and recovering physical evidence at the scene which will be processed by the sheriff’s evidence technician and then forwarded to the California Department of Justice for comparison. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (209) 223-6500 or the Secret Witness Program at (209) 223-4900. Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.