Gas-station clerk (sort of) traps armed robber

From Christine Vendel:

A clerk locked a gunman inside the lobby of a Kansas City gas station early today, but when police arrived, the gunman had broken a window and escaped.

The failed holdup occurred just before 3 a.m. at the Service Oil station, 3816 E. 31st. The clerk told police the gunman entered the store and pushed a black revolver into a sliding drawer in the bullet-resistant glass that separates the cashier from the lobby.

The clerk locked the store’s doors, locking the gunman inside the lobby. The clerk then retreated to a back room to await police.

When police arrived, they found a broken plastic window in front of the store. The gunman was gone. Detectives were reviewing video surveillance tape from the store today.