From the MJ:

Grocery store target 
of attempted robbery

Staff Report Updated 9:57 PM Friday, January 13, 2012

MIDDLETOWN — A man attempted to rob a Middletown grocery store Friday night, but got away with only change, according to police.

The man walked into Dillman Foods about 8 p.m., demanded money, and when the clerk refused, he grabbed some change and left the store on foot, Middletown police officer Eric Crank said.

Steve Dillman, owner of Dillman Foods, 2100 Central Ave., said the black man didn’t display a weapon.

No one was injured in Friday’s incident, Crank said. The suspect was last seen walking west on Central Avenue, he said.

“It was a scary situation,” said Dillman, who wasn’t in the store at the time of the robbery. “It’s getting bad around here. It’s past bad.”

Dillman’s was robbed twice and had two break-ins in 2011, Dillman said at the time. In December 2010, the grocery store was robbed when two armed gunmen entered the store, held employees at gunpoint and removed an undisclosed amount of cash.