Teen Escapes To Bathroom, Calls 911 During Armed Robbery At Tecumseh Dollar Store

A teen is being thanked for his quick thinking during an armed robbery at a Tecumseh dollar store. 

The teen, who asked News 9 not to identify him, was shopping with his step father at Family Dollar located at 700 N. Broadway Street Sunday around 8:30 p.m., when the robbery began.  The suspect held his stepfather at gunpoint.

“The first thing I had seen was the gun aimed at him, and then he told him to get on the ground. And I took off running to the back,” the teen said.

With no time to think, the teen rushed to the back of the store and locked himself in a bathroom. He then called 911.

The suspect saw the teen get away.

“He said, I’m not going to kill your son,” the teen said. “He was trying to make me think that he wasn't going to kill me. I felt like he was.”

Trey Harlin-Sumlin, 22, was arrested hours following the incident at his home nearby.

Harlin-Sumlin faces several charges including robbery, possession of a firearms while committing a felony, pointing firearms, possession of forged evidences of debt, and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Officers recovered the money stolen along with a loaded gun, counterfeit money drug paraphernalia and a stolen vehicle.

Police call the teen brave.

“A lot of people at that age maybe they wouldn’t know what to do, they might freeze, they may be scared,” said Tecumseh Police Chief J.R. Kidney. “But this young man stepped into action, got into a bathroom where possibly he would be safe, and made that 911 call. Which in the end result, within a very short period of time, suspect in custody.”

Nobody was hurt in the incident.

For staying calm, the teen credits family.

“I just learned through my mom,” the teen said. “She tells me what to do if something happens likes that, tells me to call 911.”

The family said the teen stayed home from school Monday due to the incident.