Beating by proprietor prompted suspect to drop cash register, run off, police said. 
 
 Miyo Koba, an 89-year-old store owner in Spokane, Wash., used a golf club to beat off a suspected robber who wielded a sword. (Photo: KREM-TV, Spokane) 
 
 An 89-year-old store owner in Washington state used a golf club to beat off a suspected robber who wielded a sword, prompting the suspect to drop the stolen cash register as he made away on a bicycle, according to police and published reports. 
 
 Police in the 21,000-population city of Moses Lake say owner Miyo Koba was inside Frank's Superette on Sunday morning when a tall, slender male wearing a ski mask and dark glasses swooped in. Koba has owned the store in this community between Seattle and Spokane for 60 years, and kept it up even after her husband died, police said. Her store is popular among local high school students and is a block and a half from the school, police said. 
 
 When Koba found the suspect standing behind the cash register Sunday, she set about a campaign of aggression. Police describe Koba as a small woman who weighs no more than 125 pounds. 
 
 "I had the scissors in my hand like this, and he was trying to open the till, and he said, 'Open the till!'" Koba said, giving KREM-TV/Spokane, blow-by-blow details. "I said, 'No, I'm not going to open the till for you,' and I said, 'If you don't get your hands off the till, I'm going to stab you with my scissors.'" 
 
 Koba admitted she didn't have the nerve to stab the suspect, but her tactics apparently had an effect. The suspect became unnerved when Koba would not open the register, Koba told KREM. 
 
 "He started pounding on the register trying to open it," Koba said. 
 
 "He pulled out his little sword out of his little jacket, and he just kind of waved it a little bit," she told KREM. Police said the "little" sword was 3-feet-long. 
 
 The suspect pushed Koba, and she fell, spotting the golf club, she said. 
 
 "I … tried to swing this club at him, and I tried to hit his head a couple of times, but I couldn't reach it," Koba told the news organization. 
 
 No matter. She went for his legs, swinging and hitting them. 
 
 The man escaped on a bicycle, cash register and sword in hand, according to KREM, but police said Koba later recovered the register nearby with the money still in it. 
 
 The man apparently stripped after he left the store because police later found his clothing, according to KREM. 
 
 Police said they are continuing the investigation. 
 
 Koba said the would-be robber with the "little" sword never fazed her. 
 
 "I didn't feel threatened," she told KREM. "It just probably made me a little more brave." 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/27/golf-club-store-sword/9652891/ ||||| 89-year-old woman fights off sword wielding robber with golf club 
 
 MOSES LAKE, Wash.— An 89-year-old storeowner used a golf club to fight-off a robbery suspect who was armed with a sword Sunday morning in Moses Lake. 
 
 
 
 Police said the suspect entered Frank’s Superette with a sword. He managed to get away with a cash register and rode-off on a BMX bike according to witnesses. 
 
 
 
 During the ordeal, the storeowner said she struck the man with a golf club. Her son said she was not injured and later recovered the cash register. 
 
 
 
 The owner, Miyo Koba, had owned the business for 60 years. 
 
 
 
 Koba said she found the man standing behind the cash register on Sunday. 
 
 
 
 “I had the scissors in my hand like this, and he was trying to open the till, and he said, ‘Open the till!’ I said, “No I'm not going to open the till for you’, and I said, ‘If you don't get your hands of the till, I'm gonna stab you with the scissors.’ But I didn't. I didn't have the nerve to stab him,” said Koba. 
 
 
 
 Koba said the man became irritated after she would not help him get money out of the register for him. 
 
 
 
 “He started pounding on the register trying to open it because I wouldn’t do it for him,” said Koba. “He pulled out his little sword out of his little jacket, and he just kind of waved it a little bit.” 
 
 
 
 Police said the blade of the sword extended three feet. 
 
 
 
 “I didn't feel threatened. It just probably made me a little bit more brave,” said Koba. 
 
 
 
 Koba said the man pushed her slightly to get away. 
 
 
 
 “I fell down here and so I got into a sitting position. I got into a sitting position and I found the club so I went tried to swing this club at him and I tried to hit his head a couple times but I couldn't reach it,” said Koba. 
 
 
 
 Koba said she hit the man’s legs. 
 
 
 
 Koba said the suspect apparently took off his clothing after leaving the store. Koba said the man was tall and slender, wearing a ski mask and dark sunglasses. Police said they recovered the man’s clothing later. 
 
 
 
 “He must have been running around in his underwear and no shoes because that's what they said, they found all his clothes,” said Koba. 
 
 
 
 Police were still searching for the man on Tuesday. If you have any information on the suspect you are asked to call Moses Lake Police. ||||| The trio was captured near Walsenburg, about 90 miles south of Colorado Springs, after a short chase, officials said. 
 
 The trio was captured near Walsenburg, about 90 miles south of Colorado Springs, after a short chase, officials said. 
 
 A surveillance image taken Aug. 2 at a Cumberland Farms store on U.S. 98 shows Ryan Dougherty as he purchases gas. 
 
 A surveillance image shows a Valdosta, Ga., bank robbery hours after a Zephyrhills police officer was fired upon during a high-speed chase. 
 
 Authorities said the people who were spotted made a cash purchase at an REI outdoors store north of downtown Colorado Springs. 
 
 The trio was captured near Walsenburg, about 90 miles south of Colorado Springs, after a short chase, officials said. 
 
 The trio was captured near Walsenburg, about 90 miles south of Colorado Springs, after a short chase, officials said. 
 
 A surveillance image taken Aug. 2 at a Cumberland Farms store on U.S. 98 shows Ryan Dougherty as he purchases gas. 
 
 A surveillance image shows a Valdosta, Ga., bank robbery hours after a Zephyrhills police officer was fired upon during a high-speed chase. 
 
 Authorities said the people who were spotted made a cash purchase at an REI outdoors store north of downtown Colorado Springs. 
 
 The start of the Dougherty crime spree started on the roads in Zephryhills and ended 1,700 miles away in Colorado. 
 
 By BY KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune 
 
 Published: August 10, 2011 
 
 
 
 After eight days of eluding a nationwide manhunt, three Pasco County siblings accused of shooting at a police officer and robbing a bank were captured Wednesday after a 100 mph chase and gunfight on a south Colorado desert, authorities said. 
 
 The Colorado State Patrol said it caught the three fugitive Dougherty siblings after a pursuit and crash about 50 miles north of the New Mexico state line and 1,700 miles from the siblings’ home in Lachoochee. 
 
 The trio was captured near Walsenburg, about 90 miles south of Colorado Springs. 
 
 FBI Special Agent Steve Emmett confirmed that the two men and a woman arrested are 21-year-old Ryan Edward Dougherty, 26-year-old Dylan Dougherty Stanley and 29-year-old Lee-Grace Dougherty. 
 
 The state patrol announced the capture on its Twitter feed. 
 
 “Short pursuit with 3 sibling fugitive from Florida ends in crash,” the feed said. Two of the siblings were captured immediately, one ran. 
 
 The pursuit spilled from Interstate 25 to the back door of George’s Drive Inn restaurant, less than a mile away. 
 
 Employees of the diner heard gunshots and saw one younger man acting strangely as he got close to the restaurant. 
 
 “He was trying to blend in, at first running and then walking,” said a waitress who identified herself only as April. “We knew that he was hiding from the cops when we saw him hiding in the bushes. 
 
 “He didn’t look injured, because he was running,” she added. “We didn’t see any weapon in his hand, unless he had it in his pants or something. He was just trying to get the heck out of Dodge.” 
 
 Restaurant workers called authorities and told them where the man was hiding. 
 
 “He passed right between our back door and our shed,” she said of the fugitive. “We’re a small town. It was scary – especially after we heard the gunshots.” 
 
 Lee-Grace Dougherty ran through a field carrying an automatic pistol. She turned around and pointed the gun at a Walsenburg police officer. The officer shot her in the leg, investigators said. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 
 
 At the scene where the Dougherty siblings were captured investigators found a MAC-11 machine pistol, two AK-47 assault rifles and a handgun outside the Subaru Impreza that the trio drove. 
 
 Pasco County sheriff’s detectives will travel to Colorado to question the Doughertys. The extradition process will begin as soon as possible, said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco. 
 
 Zephyrhills Police Chief David Shears said he’s glad the ordeal is over. 
 
 “We’re happy about the outcome,” Shears said, “that no law enforcement officers or civilians were hurt.” 
 
 Brendon Bookman, the fiancé of Lee-Grace Dougherty, said he’s relieved the manhunt has ended. 
 
 “Thank God it is over,” Bookman said. “I am pleasantly surprised they are alive. 
 
 “They were daredevils and thrill-seekers,” Bookman said of the trio police dubbed the “Dougherty Gang.” “I hope it was fun while it lasted because they are looking at some pretty boring years coming up.” 
 
 Bookman said plans for marrying Lee-Grace Dougherty “are probably over.” 
 
 “By the time she is out of jail, I will be in a diaper,” he said. 
 
 Bookman said he will visit his fiancée, if she will allow it, and bring her favorite doll. 
 
 The state patrol received a tip shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday that the three were spotted near Colorado City. Their 2006 Subaru was seen at a campground, but they were gone by the time Pueblo County sheriff’s deputies arrived. 
 
 A deputy spotted the car at a nearby gas station in Colorado City, and a state trooper tried to pull it over. The driver refused to stop and a pursuit began, with shots from an AK-47 assault rifle being fired at troopers from the suspects’ vehicle, officials said. 
 
 The getaway vehicle crashed after troopers dropped stop sticks in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 near Walsenburg. 
 
 Mike Lave was working in his gift shop on Main Street in Walsenburg, a town of about 4,000, when a series of police cars went zipping by. 
 
 “We just saw them go by the window,” said Lave. “We didn’t know what was going on." 
 
 The siblings are suspected of firing at least 20 shots on Aug. 2 at a Zephyrhills officer who tried to pull them over for speeding. 
 
 The officer, who was not injured, did not return fire but gave chase. The Subaru reached speeds of 103 mph before the pursuit ended at State Road 54 and Morris Bridge Road when a bullet struck the patrol car's front left tire. 
 
 Investigators linked the siblings to the case after they found Ryan Dougherty's ankle monitor near the scene of the car chase. He had just been issued the monitor after being convicted of sending sexually explicit text messages to an 11-year-old girl. 
 
 Hours later, three people wearing masks robbed a bank in Valdosta, Ga., about 210 miles north of Pasco County. One robber brandished an AK-47 assault rifle while another was photographed by a security camera waving some type of machine gun, said the FBI, which named the Doughertys as suspects. 
 
 Nocco said all three had been living together in Lachoochee, and each had legal issues. Lee-Grace Dougherty has charges pending against her in a hit-and-run and had previously been charged with battery, Nocco said, and Dylan Dougherty Stanley had been charged with marijuana possession. 
 
 Nocco said the Subaru belongs to Ryan Dougherty's girlfriend, who helped authorities identify the car.
– Strange enough that a would-be robber of a small-town store in Washington state used a sword as his weapon of choice and a bicycle as his getaway vehicle. But what truly elevates the story is that the store's owner, an 89-year-old widow, just wasn't having it, reports USA Today. Miyo Koba of Moses Lake tells KREM-TV that she refused the robber's demand to open the register and instead threatened him with scissors. When he pushed her away and she fell, she spotted a golf club. "I ... tried to swing this club at him and I tried to hit his head a couple times but I couldn't reach it,” she says. She then started bashing him in the legs, rattling him enough that he fled with the register. Or tried to anyway. It's apparently difficult to ride a bike while carrying one, not to mention a sword, and police recovered it near the scene, still full of money. (Click to read about a rowdy rodeo attendee who ended up getting lassoed, then arrested.)