O’Malia Foods robbed Wednesday night

An armed robber is on the loose after taking an undisclosed amount of cash from O’Malia Foods, 512 S. College Mall Rd., on Wednesday night.

Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jim Batcho said a man went to the grocery’s customer service desk around 7:30 p.m. and displayed a small, black, semiautomatic handgun.  He ordered the manager to put an undisclosed amount of cash into a plastic bag. He then ordered the manager to walk to the back of the store, while he then fled out the pharmacy doors, Batcho said. 

The man is described as white with a medium build and a height of about 5 feet 10 inches. He is estimated to be about 240 pounds with dark, scruffy facial hair. He was wearing a camouflage baseball hat, glasses and dark clothing, and also has an identifiable three to four inch scar on his right cheek. 

Employee and IU senior Megan Williams was supposed to be working the cash register at the time but was asked to do something else, so the assistant manager took over. 

“He came in and asked for cigarettes, then demanded the money,” she said. 

Williams said there were about five people working in the front of the store at the time.  
IU senior Jessica Woodall, who also works at O’Malia’s, said she was walking back into the store after taking another customer’s groceries to their vehicle when she saw the robber calmly walking out of the store and through the parking lot. 

“He had glasses, a hat, long hair. He looked normal. It wasn’t until I walked inside and Megan told me what happened that I knew he robbed us,” she said. 

O’Malia’s continued to remain open until the midnight closing time, employees said, despite the armed robbery. 

“I’d like to leave,” Woodall said. “We really don’t want to be here.” 

IU senior Kacie Hagenseiker was a cashier at a lane next to the customer service center.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” she said. “We have no security cameras. It’s dangerous.” 

Batcho said police continued searching for the robber through the night.