Douglas Walker

dwalker@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Muncie police say a convicted bandit got more than he bargained for when he tried to hold up a south side liquor store late Friday.

Authorities said Anthony J. Williams, 47, was shot in the pelvic region as he struggled with a female clerk over possession of a handgun.

Williams entered the 15th & Hoyt Liquor Store, 2204 S. Hoyt Ave., about 11:15 p.m., pretended to have a weapon and demanded cash from the female clerk, Muncie Police Lt. Steve Cox said.

The clerk believed Williams was trying to grab a handgun that was behind the store’s counter.

A struggle then ensued between the clerk and Williams, ending when the gun discharged, seriously wounding the would-be bandit, Cox said.

Williams was transported to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. Police at first thought his wound was potentially life-threatening, but Cox said this morning that his condition is believed to have stabilized.

Cox said the case would be forwarded to Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold for review — standard procedure in an investigation involving a shooting — but no charges have been lodged against the clerk. She suffered minor injures in her struggle with the would-be bandit, but did not required medical treatment, Cox said.

Williams, under a police hold at the hospital, has been preliminarily charged with attempted robbery.

According to state Department of Correction records, Williams has prior convictions for robbery (in 1991), dealing in cocaine (1996) and resisting law enforcement (1990).

He was most recently released from prison in 2005, those records reflect.