David Michael Miller
Just like most nights, business on June 1 had slowed to a trickle at the Madison Food Mart after the 9 p.m. beer rush. Abdullah Akhun, owner of the store at the corner of East Johnson and Paterson, was standing behind the register, watching a Johnny Carson rerun on Antenna TV when he heard the door open.
When Akhun turned to greet the customer, it wasn’t one of his regulars from the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood. Instead, it was a man wearing a baseball cap, black hoodie and ski mask. He pointed a gun at Akhun and yelled: “This is a stickup!”
“I thought it was a prank at first,” says Akhun. “There was no time to feel afraid.”
As caught on surveillance video, Akhun didn’t react the way most people would when staring down the barrel of a gun.
“It was pointing at me, so I reached for it,” Akhun says. “My motive was to grab the gun out of his hand. See what happens when the shoe is on the other foot. Then what? So yeah, I reached for the gun.”
The video shows the masked man evade Akhun’s reach, step back and cock the gun. Akhun says he heard a loud click, a sound that jolted him into action.
He starts to come around the corner, turns back to grab a baseball bat, and then chases after the assailant. The robber seems to realize he’s outmatched and heads for the door. Akhun hears a second “click” before the robber flees down the street.
“Maybe the safety was on or there were no bullets [in the gun],” Akhun says. “But that would be a total guess. It happened so fast.”
The encounter lasted 12 seconds.
Unfazed by the robbery attempt, Akhun kept the store open another 40 minutes before closing as normal at 11 p.m. He didn’t bother to call 911.
“If I would have called the police, that’d send 10 squads, and I’d have been here for hours,” says Akhun, who works at his shop 13 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.
“No harm was done. This episode was over,” he says of his thinking at the time. “Tomorrow I will get up and be here at 7 in the morning. I wanted to go home.”
The incident was reported to police on June 3, two days later, but not by Akhun. By then, he had shown the surveillance video of the robbery to several customers.
“I suspect one of the neighbors called the police, but I’m not sure who,” he says. Police told Akhun he should have reported the attempted robbery immediately because the armed man might have committed another crime. “But maybe he didn't,” Akhun counters. “Who's to say? Certainly not me.”
Joel DeSpain, spokesman for the Madison Police Department, encourages all people to report crimes. “The store owner was definitely victimized, and we’d like to catch the guy so he can have justice. But it’s not just about him. It’s not uncommon for one person to commit several crimes in a relatively short period of time,” DeSpain says. “If we don’t hear about it, we can’t spot patterns.”
DeSpain says when police contacted Akhun, he was helpful and cooperative. A detective has been assigned to the case.
The Madison Food Mart — which declares itself the “Best Little Store in Town” on its sign — epitomizes the neighborhood corner shop. Akhun, who bought the store in 2001, knows most of his customers by name, and they call him “Abby.” Akhun is quick with a joke and loves to talk politics. When neighborhood dogs get loose, they often sprint straight to Akhun’s store, because he’s generous with puppy treats.
A native of Hunza, which is now part of Pakistan, Akhun is nonchalant about the attempted armed robbery. He was held up one time before in the store, more than a decade ago, but can’t remember how he reacted that time.
“This is a nice, safe neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody,” Akhun says. “These things don’t occur here.”
