Clerk reports attack, robbery

A gas station clerk ran into the street to flag down help after being hit in the head during a robbery near downtown Franklin, according to police.

The suspect left the Admiral gas station in Franklin at 4 a.m. Monday with the clerk’s and gas station’s phones, leaving the clerk unable to call for help, according to investigators with the Franklin Police Department.

Elizabeth Bower, 25, 200 W. King St., Franklin, was arrested hours later on charges of robbery, aggravated battery and interference with reporting a crime.

Investigators could not release any further details about the case, including the victim’s injuries and condition, what the clerk told police happened and what he was hit with, where and how they found Bower, or what was taken in the robbery, chief investigator Pete Ketchum said.

About 4 a.m. Monday, the gas station clerk had run into Jefferson Street near the Admiral gas station, located at 237 W. Jefferson St., to try and flag down help, according to a news release from Franklin police.

When police arrived, the man was bleeding and told officers he had been hit in the head with an object and robbed, the release said.

A woman had fled the gas station with money, the phones and store merchandise, the release said.

Franklin police and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched the area with police dogs.

By late morning, Bower was arrested and is being held at the Johnson County jail on $33,000 bond.