Store Employee Won’t Be Charged In Robbery Suspect’s Shooting

Covington Police said they don’t plan to charge the merchant who killed
a man during a gun battle Monday night.

Police said Khader Sbeih was licensed to carry the weapon and was just
defending himself after being the victim of two crimes in the past two
weeks.

Sbeih bought the Deli Mart Express, at the corner of 12th and Lee
streets in Covington, a year ago and ran it with his nephew, Basem.

Even though the Sbiehs are of middle eastern descent, there were no
problems until the past few weeks.

Police said Perry Pinkelton of Elsmere came into the store around 7:30
p.m., showed a gun and demanded money from Basem. His uncle, Khader was
in a back room and pulled his own weapon.

“He confronted the suspect who turned around, noticed him and fired
three shots at him. The clerk was not hit. The clerk returned fire
striking the suspect several times and the suspect died at the scene,”
said Sgt. Neal Tally of the Covington Police.

Nine shots were exchanged during the gun battle.

Deliverymen tried to bring goods to the store today, but it was tightly
locked. A bullet hole was visible on an outside wall.

Inside, a mirror that covered a security camera, was shattered.

Even though the owners were of middle eastern descent, that didn’t seem
to bother the neighbors.

“I came down here just to check on them after the World Trade Center.
That’s the first thing I did come down here to see if they were all
right to make sure they weren’t being hassled,” said Mark Rohe of
Covington.

There has been recent trouble at the Deli Mart.

The store was robbed two weeks ago, and a glass window was broken out
after the owner had a run-in with three neighborhood teenagers.

Then there was Monday night’s shooting.
Despite the volume of crimes, police are not calling any of the
incidents hate crimes.

“I think this was just a suspect trying to make a quick buck. As a
matter of fact, he was a suspect in a couple of other robberies that are
being worked at this time,” police explained.
Not much is known about the suspect in the most recent crime, Perry
Pinkelton. He lived on Henry Street in Elsmere, but police there said he
didn’t have any prior record as far as they knew.

There have been a half-dozen robberies at convenience stores in
Covington the past several months. That concerns both merchants and
residents alike. Police said they’ll step up patrols as resources
permit.

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