VIDEO ADDED: Cedar Rapids auto parts store robbed

UPDATE: The man walked into the Cedar Rapids auto parts store, paused near the front counter and glanced around.

"Can I help you find anything?" manager Eric VanCleave asked.

The man turned and lifted his sweat shirt to show VanCleave the handgun tucked in his waistband.

"I want your (expletive) money," he said.

By the time police arrived at Advance Auto Parts, 3910 Center Point Rd. NE, just before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the man had the cash and was gone. No arrests had been made in the case by Tuesday afternoon, police said.

VanCleave's co-worker, Debbria Haynes, was in the back, packaging up returned merchandise. She didn't see or hear the robbery, but was the first to talk to VanCleave afterward.

She said the suspect took cash from three registers and a safe. He told VanCleave not to look at him.

The robber "was pulling out cash as fast as he could," Haynes said.

The whole thing lasted two, maybe three minutes, Haynes said. Before he left, Haynes said the robber told VanCleave to turn around and get on his knees.

"He had no idea what (the robber) was going to do," Haynes said.

VanCleave heard a vehicle leaving, but did not see it. It's not officially known whether the suspect drove away or ran away, police said.

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, a police spokeswoman, said the suspect is described as a black male in his 20s, around 6-foot-2. He was wearing a dark blue hooded sweat shirt.

Still shaken from the encounter, VanCleave, a father-to-be, was sent home for the day. The business was closed for about two hours before it reopened around 10:45 a.m.

Anyone with information is asked to call Cedar Rapids police at 1-800-CR-CRIME or (319) 286-5491.

[mappress]