Morristown store clerk says he was robbed, slashed

MORRISTOWN – Linke Li says he was working late Sunday at his computer in his Spring Street business when a robber burst in, demanded cash from the register and sliced him around the neck before fleeing with about $1,200.

"He just said 'Come on, give me the money,'" Li, the 28-year-old proprietor of TC Link at 75 Spring Street told the Daily Record Monday. His business, a combination of wireless telephone services and sales of $1 items, also is generally known as a dollar store.

Li, who is Chinese and said he has been at the site at the corner of Spring Street and Martin Luther King Avenue for a bit less than a year, said his employees left about 7 p.m. Sunday. He said he was working late on his computer at the front of the store when a stranger came in the door around 11 p.m. The suspect was described as a black male, about 6 feet tall, wearing a brown jacket, a black hat and a bandana or scarf that covered the lower half of his face.

Li said the man hopped a counter, pushed him and demanded money. With the cash register a few feet away, he said, he opened the drawer and removed an estimated $1,200.

"I said 'Don't hit me.' When he left me he cut me," Li said.

He said he believes the weapon was a boxcutter or similar tool. He displayed a bandage encircling his entire neck that he said was put on during treatment late Sunday at Morristown Medical Center. He said he was cut on the left side of his neck.

Li said he was so rattled he called a friend and asked that person to call 911. Then he ran outside and a patrol car coincidentally had just arrived.

"Last night I feel lucky. I went outside and the police came by," he said.

Morristown Police Department spokesman Detective Lt. Stuart Greer said in a release that the alleged victim advised police he was robbed at knifepoint by an assailant who fled on foot. The victim was treated at the scene by members of the Morristown Emergency Medical Services and transported to the hospital, where he was treated for a superficial laceration to his neck and released.

Morristown detectives responded and were assisted by detectives from the Morris County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Section. The probe is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call Morristown Police at 973-538-2200 and speak to an on-duty detective. Anonymous tips also can be made to Morris County CrimeStoppers at 973-COP-CALL.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com