Police are looking for a man who robbed a cash advance store and assaulted an employee inside Saturday afternoon in Niles.

According to the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, Allied Cash Advance on South 11 Street was robbed at approximately 1:26 p.m.

The suspect entered the store alone and locked the door. He produced a handgun, demanded money and physically assaulted an employee.

Det. Joseph Margherone, of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, said the incident lasted around 20 minutes.

While the crime was in progress, a potential customer attempted to enter the store, but left after finding the door locked.

“They thought it was odd, drove away and then drove back,” Margherone said. “By the time they got back someone had walked in and the victim was found.”

The employee was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Lakeland Hospital in Niles and released that day.

The suspect fled on foot in an unknown direction with cash obtained during the robbery.

Margherone said Allied Cash Advance does not have a video camera. The suspect’s image was not captured on cameras located at a bank to the south of Allied Cash Advance.

No footprints were found and no eyewitnesses other than the victim have come forward, Margherone said.

The suspect is described as a light skinned black male in his mid 20s to early 30s with a 5 o’clock shadow and cracked lips. He is approximately 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. At the time of the robbery, the suspect was wearing light gray baggy sweatpants and a dark colored nylon jacket resembling a jogging coat. He had on backwards a black nylon hat with a small bill and was wearing a square diamond earing in his right ear.

Margherone said he is unaware of the store being robbed in the past and that no related crimes have occurred recently in the area.

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is requesting the assistance of the general pubic to identify this subject.

Information can be given to the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department by contacting (269) 983-7111 ext. 6242 or Crime Stoppers at 800-342-7867.