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HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Police say a would-be robber who demanded money from a store clerk got a fistful.

Before he could run off with any cash, the clerk at the We Buy Gold store in Hendersonville punched him in the nose on Friday. Sgt. Dale Patton with the Hendersonville Police Department tells the Times-News of Hendersonville that 25-year-old Mostafa Kamel Hendi dropped to the floor.

The clerk, 26-year-old Derek Mothershead, then grabbed the gun — it turned out to be a pellet gun — and called police. Hendi lay bleeding on the floor until he was arrested.

Patton says the clerk was on high alert because the store had already been robbed once recently. Authorities are looking into whether Hendi was involved in that heist.

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