A Manheim-area businessman said he faked a heart attack to protect himself from an armed robber late Wednesday afternoon.

And after the gunman fled from his antiques store at Elm with about $1,000, Gary Seachrist came outside and fired several shots with his own handgun into the air, Penn Township police said.

The bizarre robbery and shots-fired incident happened just after 5:30 at Patterns of the Sea, 711 W. Newport Road, Lititz, in the village of Elm.

The store is just a few miles from the Power Pro Battery firm in Manheim Borough, where a manager shot and killed an armed robber while protecting himself on Tuesday morning.

A second suspect fled from the botched robbery in Manheim and remains at large. While there are similarities in the description, there is no direct link between the wanted robber in Manheim and the Penn Township robbery suspect, police said today.

Seachrist, 59, said he was inside his store examining silver jewelry when a man entered the store carrying a handgun.

"I want your money," the man said, according to Seachrist, who handed over about $1,000 that he had in his pants pockets.

The gunman apparently wasn't satisfied.

"He wanted me to take him over to the safe," the businessman said.

At that point, Seachrist said, he faked illness.

"I'm having a heart attack," he told the robber, and reached out to grab onto something.

Then came a knock on the door. A 22-year-old Ephrata woman had just arrived for a scheduled job interview with Seachrist.

Apparently, this was too much for the robber to deal with. He ran out the door and past the woman, carrying the money he had gotten from the store owner.

"They (the robber and woman) were only about five feet from each other," said Seachrist.

The robber ran east from the antiques store, which is in a barn near the Elm Car Wash. He was described as a Hispanic or black male, possibly in his 20s, who wore an orange T-shirt and blue jeans, but no hat or mask.

The weapon he displayed was a small black handgun, police said.

After the man fled, Seachrist came outside with a small-caliber handgun that he kept in the store.

"He fired several shots in the air," said Penn Township police Detective Sgt. Matt Weidman.

Weidman said the robber was probably out of range when Seachrist fired his own gun, believed to be a 32-caliber.

"He fired about three rounds in the air," said Weidman. "I'm not sure if he was trying to scare him away or what."

The woman who had shown up for the interview heard the shots, Weidman said, as did several other people in the area.

Seachrist declined to talk about the shooting part of the incident this morning.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Penn Township detectives at 665-6959.


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