Machete-wielding clerk fends off knife-wielding suspects at AL gas station

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -A robbery turned into a knife fight, inside and outside a Huntsville gas station.

Seth Holcomb and Laney Nicholson were arrested over the weekend after they allegedly tried to rob a Conoco convenience store on Pulaski Pike armed with knives.

Surveillance footage released by Huntsville police captures the scary incident and how the clerk fought back.

It happened at 3:15 am on Saturday, March 16.

According to police, Holcomb walked up to the counter to make a purchase. He leaves the store and then comes back in as if to make a second purchase. Then, he pulled out a knife at the counter. What he didn't expect was that the clerk would pull out a machete of his own.

“Holcomb entered and actually started to buy something which he did, than started to buy something else going back and forth to his car as if he was building the nerve to make his move. In his second trip to the counter he pulls his knife to demand cash and the clerk pulls his bigger knife,” explained Lt. Michael Johnson, public information officer for the Huntsville Police Department.

Holcomb tried to run away at that point, but the clerk remotely locked the door and called police.

The knife fight breaks out with the men taking swings at each other.

Then, Holcomb throws an object through the front glass door to make his getaway.

Holcomb and the clerk are seen going through the broken door and out to the front of the store. The clerk wanted to get a better look at the car Holcomb was driving.

That’s when the second suspect comes into play. Laney Nicholson was waiting outside the store near the suspect’s vehicle. She allegedly also pulled out a knife when the clerk chased the first suspect out and started fighting with the clerk with her own weapon.

“During that time, Holcomb has the presence of mind to go back in the store and take the cash drawer out of the register,” Lt. Johnson said.

Meanwhile outside, the clerk didn’t make the suspects’ getaway easy. He pounded on their 's car with his machete. He told investigators that he wanted to “visibly mark the vehicle so police could easily recognize it.”

The suspects were able to get away, but they were arrested by police a short time later on North Memorial Parkway near a Burger King. They're charged with robbery and other offenses.

“Amazingly, there were no serious injuries and no medical treatment beyond first aid needed to all parties,” Lt. Johnson added.

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