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GREENSBORO — Police removed a handful of grenades from a North Church Street convenience store Wednesday afternoon, but it was the store's owner who was more likely to explode.

Is store owner Yun Young Man's anger at police justified? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

Police closed the street near Mun Young Man's store for two hours while the hazardous devices team investigated and removed inert grenades that Man said he placed in four of the shop's windows.

Man, who speaks limited English, was furious that police launched a massive response to the harmless deterrent after they had not been able to protect his store, S&M Market, from repeated break-ins.

As recently as Friday, Man said an armed robber held his wife at gunpoint while she was working at the store at 4200 N. Church St. and he was sleeping in its back room. Police confirmed a robbery had been reported there Friday.

Man, 50, has wood covering one window that has been broken so often he doesn't bother replacing it any more. He put the grenades there to make robbers think twice about coming in through the windows, he said. Man said his customers knew the grenades were empty and weren't afraid of them.
It was a neighbor's concern for Man that brought police in the first place.





Annette Sanders, a regular customer who lives nearby, called the police Wednesday afternoon because the store was empty and locked. She asked police to check on Man.


"I thought something happened to you," Sanders told Man after officers had left that day. "You had a lot of us worried about you."


The two officers who responded to her call saw the grenades, backed out of the store and called for the hazardous devices team, said Lt. Wayne Scott. Police closed the area to traffic while two officers got into bomb suits and investigated the store.


After a few minutes, the officers came out of the store carrying a "frag bag" with the grenades in it. Then they put them into the team's explosives carrier, a large truck with a chamber on the back designed for carrying explosives.


The grenades were taken to the department's bomb range to "render them completely safe," said Officer T.C. Walker, a member of the hazardous devices team.


Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson said his former law firm next door, which is owned by his wife, had been asked to evacuate as a precaution.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com