ARLINGTON, Va. - Police report a thief robbed and tied up a clerk inside a store at a busy local mall Monday, before escaping through a mall parking lot.

Police say the thief struck inside the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, right after the mall opened for business Monday morning.

As stunned shoppers looked on, Arlington County police swarmed the Pentagon City mall, but the man who tied up and robbed a store clerk at knifepoint was gone.

Moments after the Clark's shoe store located on the third floor of the mall opened for business, a man wearing a black knit cap and brown suede jacket walked in and browsed around until the customers left.

The robber then allegedly pulled a knife on the clerk, ordering him to remove money from the register. After getting the cash, the robber marched the clerk to a backroom and tied his hands together before leaving. After struggling for several minutes, the clerk managed to get free and call for help.

Shoppers at the mall say they are disturbed about the incident.

"It's frightening to think something like that could happen in the mall, right here with as many people coming in and out," said Charlotte Peed, a shopper.

"They are getting braver and braver or stupider," added shopper Stephani Bynoe. "I don't know which -- it's terrible."

Police think the thief left through the third-level parking garage -- just a few steps from the store. "I feel it was targeted -- there was only one employee present...," said Detective Crystal Nosal of the Arlington County Police Department.

Detectives want to speak with anyone who could have been in the store just before the robbery. They are also checking any mall surveillance cameras for images of the thief.

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