MINNEAPOLIS, MN (AP) -- Minneapolis police say a store clerk thwarted a robbery by swinging hammers at the would-be thief.

Authorities don't recommend fighting back because they say innocent people could be hurt. But police Sgt. Jesse Garcia says some people are apparently tired of being crime victims.

Police say a man entered Bryn Mawr Market about 8 p.m. Thursday wearing a ski mask.

Garcia says the employee calmly asked him to remove the mask and the man said, "This is a robbery, don't you know that?"

When the man grabbed the cash register, the clerk hit the man once with a hammer. Then the clerk threw the hammer at the man, pulled out a second one and chased the man away. The man dropped the cash register and fled on foot.

The employee suffered a cut on his arm.

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