PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – A quiet night at Superior Appliances off Sterling Avenue near Northwoods Mall quickly turned sinister after a surprise robbery.
Police are still looking for two men who entered the appliance store around 7:30 p.m. Saturday and attacked 60-year-old owner Cornelius Howard.
“You can’t take enough showers, you know?” Howard said as he recounted what happened to him Monday afternoon. “You know, it’s bad. It’s a bad feeling.”
At first, he thought it was a prank and confronted the attackers.
One of the men put him in a chokehold, which then prompted Howard to fall to the ground. The attacker hit him repeatedly with a large battery pack while the other emptied some cash from the drawer. Both men ran off.
“God walked me through that, which I never imagined I would go through,” Howard said. He’s worked in the city for a long time. Before selling appliances, he detailed cars for many years under the same “Superior” moniker. He’s been selling appliances for about 15 years and recently moved to this Sterling location.
“Nobody got hurt other than getting hit a couple of times, but hey, you’re going to have to hit me a lot harder to stop me from coming to work,” he continued.
The entire incident was captured on store security footage. That footage was shared with police but not 25 News.
Howard is relying on his faith as he moves forward, saying he’s praying for the two men that the police are still looking for. PPD asks anyone with information to contact the Peoria Police Department at (309) 673-4521, tip411 (anonymously), or Crime Stoppers (anonymously) at (309) 673-9000.
Howard said his store is still safe.
“My customers, I would take a bullet for them,” he said. “If you come in here, I’m going to protect you, make sure you’re straight. I don’t have a problem with [crime], we’re not here for that.”
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