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Pawn shop employee shoots robber in Newport, police say

Suspect caught hiding in dumpster
Posted at 4:34 PM, Sep 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-06 23:30:25-04

NEWPORT, Ky.  – Bonnie Dodd said she wasn’t sure she was hearing gunfire from the pawn shop next door, and she wasn't sure what she saw. But she put five and five together.

“We weren't sure they were gunshots, but there were at least 10 and by that point you knew it was something,” Dodd said after surveying all the bullet holes in the building at 807 Monmouth St.

There were bullet holes in the front window and more above the door.

Dodd turned out to be an unsuspecting ear and eyewitness to a noon-time robbery Wednesday at E-Z Cash Pawn. She heard an employee open fire and she saw the suspect running for his life. She just didn't know it at the time.

“What I saw was a door slam and it was happening so fast you couldn't tell anything,” she said.

“Everybody from across the street and on this side of the street were all yelling.”

Afterward, a blood trail led to the spot where police say a man in a wig waited in a getaway SUV.

Witnesses say the car peeled out east on Eighth Street. Newport Police Chief Tom Collins said  a school resource officer spotted the pair and chased them until they ditched the SUV.

They didn’t get far. Police apprehended the driver immediately, but the wounded robbery suspect ran. Police said they found Sahia Cunningham hiding in a nearby dumpster.  Cunninghan was transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.