Pawn Shop Break In!

This happened just a few weeks ago. I do a lot of online work (check us out on ebay, amazon and half under seller name CapCityOutlet) for the shop which involves a lot of packing and shipping items that were sold. It was during one such occasion that I was in the back room (where I keep the shipping boxes) that I heard a strange noise coming from the back door. It sounded like a scraping sound, and at first I thought it might be some stray animal scratching at the metal door. I stood very still for a while (heart racing like mad) and heard footsteps, then a very loud bang. My mind was working in overdrive thinking of what I was going to do to apprehend the thief. After about 45 seconds, I ran full throttle out to the front room, flung open the door and yelled at my manager, "Hey, come here RIGHT NOW!". I'm usually a very calm person so my manager didn't ask any questions, just hurried to the back room where we stood by the door for a while. Another 30 seconds later there was another bang, followed shortly by another. I made a move toward the door, then thought against it (after all, the customers' items are stored in the back and I wouldn't want to risk them being stolen or damaged).

My manager and I both stood there, stiff as boards, trying to figure out what to do. The person outside started to speak, but it was too muffled for us to make out what he was saying. Finally, I decided to confront the person. I walked out front, past my confused employee, and out to my car. From there, I drove around the shopping center and just far enough to see down the back alley. By this time, the perpetrator was walking away from the back door of the shop and towards me. It was a very cold day and the guy was wearing a scarf around his mouth. I sized him up and figured that as long as he didn't have any weapons, I could take him. I drove up to him, rolled down my window and then recognized the familiar face. It was an employee of the local electric company that had been to the shop for the first time the day before, wanting to read our meters. Turns out he missed a meter and was coming back to get the reading, not knowing that he would have been a lot better off just walking through the front doors. Three years of working at a pawn shop, and that's the closest I've come to being robbed.