Police are seeking a robber, possibly carrying two handguns, who held up a Terre Hill service station over the weekend.

The suspect stole cash from the register, along with a donation canister, and he sprayed mace into the face of the lone clerk, East Earl Township police said.

"He peppered me three times. I was choking and couldn't see, but as I was falling down, I was able to call 911," said the clerk, an 18-year-old Lancaster man.

The robber, reported to be a white male in his mid-20s, entered the Terre Hill Mart, 300 E. Main St., shortly after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, East Earl Police Chief Kevin C. McCarthy said.

"He was in there for about three minutes. I asked him, 'Do you need help.' Then he came up to the counter and said, 'Give me your money. I have two handguns,' " the clerk said.

The man had his hand in the  pockets of a hooded sweatshirt as he spoke, the clerk said.

The clerk opened the register. The bandit grabbed  money from the drawer and also a canister that contained money for Mideast refugees and "other poor people," the clerk said.

The robber maced  the clerk just before he fled from the store. The clerk refused medical treatment for the spray, police said.

The robber fled with an undisclosed amount  of cash. There were children in the store about to purchase candy when the robbery happened, the clerk said, but none of them were sprayed or injured.

Police received a good description of the robber from witnesses. He was about 6 feet tall, had a thin build, dark hair, a slight goatee, and wore sunglasses.  His sweatshirt was black with white lettering. He also wore baggy blue jeans that were well below  his waistline and black Nike running shoes that had the tongues exposed, police were told.

The robber's getaway vehicle was a blue Chevrolet pickup truck that had a loud exhaust system. It had a Pennsylvania license plate beginning with XYX.

East Earl police Officer Christopher Young is investigating the robbery. Anyone  with information is asked to call East Earl Township police at 355-5302 or Lancaster City/County CrimeStoppers at 1-800-322-1913.

In other police investigations:

• Manheim Township police have found the 2004 Lexus sedan reported stolen last weekend during a burglary  at a home on Trena Avenue in the Bloomingdale development.

The car was found at about 5:15 p.m. Monday in an undisclosed Manheim Township neighborhood. A resident recognized the car from a television broadcast of the crime and notified police of its location, Sgt. Thomas Rudzinski said.

No arrests have been made. The Trena Avenue burglary was one of several burglaries and vehicle break-ins reported last weekend in the  Bloomingdale and Blossom Hill areas of the township.

• Unknown suspects broke into the  Country Cafe, 9 W. Main St., Ephrata,  Ephrata police said.

The burglary was reported to police at 9:36 a.m. Monday. The  business had been vandalized overnight, and the building sustained major damage, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact Ephrata police at 738-9299 or call the CrimeStoppers number.

• Manor Township police charged Christopher Riley, 25, of 46 Park Ave., Mountville, with possessing a prohibited offensive weapon, two counts of harassment, and for a probation violation following a Monday night incident at the Mountville home.

Officers responded to a domestic dispute at about  9:30 p.m. Police said Riley had been arguing with two females and he had a spring-loaded knife. There were no injuries, police said.


Staff writer John M. Hoober III can be reached at jhoober@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.