Around 10:40am, investigators say three boys and a girl - all 15 and 16 years old - carried out the heist at the Kroger near Porter off of US Highway 59.
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"We heard a loud "pow!" I thought something had fallen off the shelf, didn't know what had happened," said Patricia Jessie.
She was inside the store shopping at the time of the robbery. She heard what she later learned was a single gunshot, investigators say, apparently fired when the gunmen became impatient as they perceived the clerks were not moving fast enough.
Her daughter-in-law was working inside the store.
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"She was right there at the courtesy booth and the shot went right beside her head," Jessie said.
According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the three boys jumped in a car waiting outside, which was driven by the teenage girl. Deputies tried to stop them a few miles away, but eventually chased them into a neighborhood near Rankin Road and East Hardy before the driver pulled over.
Three of the suspects stayed in the car. The fourth suspect took off, running right through Charles Baker's backyard.
"Everywhere you go you gonna find trouble. No matter where you go at. No matter where you move," he said.
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The suspect was captured near that home by a police dog, which also bit an officer and trooper in the process of stopping him. Both law enforcement officers will be okay.
Sheriff's detectives say undercover Houston police officers were watching the group and were on location outside the Kroger when the robbery occurred.
The teens are believed to be responsible for other robberies of grocery stores in Houston and Harris County, police said.