Store Owners Fed Up With Crime

Jessie and Janet Cobb have owned a convenience store in Eight Mile for 25 years, but their honest living is too often the target of a bunch of crooks.

For the sixth time in just two years, a pair of gunmen barged into their store Tuesday, and forced Janet onto the ground right in front of her granddaughter.

"They kept pointing the gun, and she kept telling them I was old. Don't do that to me," said Janet Cobb.

J & J Grocery on Lott Road used to have a surveillance system monitoring the store, but during one of the previous robberies a gunman actually shot it out. The cameras didn't do much good anyhow. Of the six robberies, the Cobbs only remember one arrest.

"As of tonight we're going to start closing at dark," said Jessie Cobb. "I don't want to, but it's too dangerous."

If the crime continues, the Cobbs may go ahead and close their store all together.

Prichard police questioned two men about the robbery Wednesday afternoon, but both men were released.