Police are searching for a white male, believed to be in his late teens, who robbed a Swifty gas station Thursday night on Olive Road.

According to a preliminary investigation, the male was in standing around the Coke machine when the clerk approached to see what was wrong, Trotwood Sgt. Fred Beck said.

The man said he had a gun and demanded money.

“He reached as if he had one, but did not show one,” the sergeant said in answer to whether the intruder was armed. In reaction to the demand, the clerk threw cash from the register at the man, ran to the rear of the store and dialed 911.

There was a surveillance camera, but investigators aren’t sure how much the man picked up before he left by the back door, Beck said.

There were customers at the business while the commotion was occurring, Beck said, but they didn’t know what was going on.

Police and Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 2800 block of Olive Road just after 9 p.m. on a report of an attempted robbery.

They were joined by a K-9 unit from the Ohio Highway Patrol.

According to a partial description of the intruder, he was 6 feet 2 inches tall, wore a hoodie underneath a Carhartt jacket and low sagging denim jeans. He was last seen running east from the business, Beck said.

Anyone who has information about the suspect or the incident is asked to call Trotwood police at (937) 228-8380.