An employee at Cleveland's Kountry Kupboard said Thursday that the owner and some customers chased away a man who attempted to rob the store Wednesday afternoon.

Cleveland Police Chief John Foster said Gainesville resident Kenny James Nicely, 27, approached and attacked the owner in the parking lot of the store at 626 W. Kytle Street at about 1:30 p.m.

Amanda Klumpp, a Kountry Kupboard employee, said the owner was on the way to deposit money when the attacker, who was wearing a hood, approached the owner from behind. After a brief "scuffle," Klumpp said the attacker ran away. The owner and several customers chased him but were unable to catch up.

Cleveland Police arrested Nicely a short time later, found hiding in a brier bush about half a mile from the original attack, according to Foster.

K-9 units were then called and found a black handgun within 25 feet of where Nicely had been hiding.

The store owner was unharmed in the attack, sustaining only a minor scratch to his finger, Klumpp said.

Nicely has a previous arrest for misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon from 2007. According to court documents, he was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over for DUI. A search of the vehicle revealed a handgun under the driver's seat, which Nicely told police belonged to him.