FORT WAYNE – Last Thursday a man walked into Stoner’s Novelty Market on Coldwater Road and asked for a can of fart spray, and when the phone rang, distracting the clerk, he stepped behind the counter, drew a gun and robbed the store.

The gunman tied the clerk’s hands behind her back, took what money was in the register and left out the back door.

To add insult to injury, shortly after the robber had fled, a woman walked into the shop and the clerk, sobbing, told her she had just been robbed and three times begged her to cut her free so she could call the police. Instead of helping, the woman announced she didn’t want to get involved and left, leaving the clerk tied up and giving the crook more time to get away.

“I thought this was a friendly city,” shop owner Dick Stoner said.

Well, apparently not when it counts.

In time, the clerk managed to call the police, dialing 911 on the phone with her tongue, and an off-duty officer shopping at the nearby Walmart rushed to the store.

Getting robbed at gunpoint is scary. It happened to Stoner’s son in the same store two years ago, and he’s still a little paranoid, Stoner said. The woman who was robbed last week is still shaken up, though she has managed to go back to work, he said.

The holdup left Stoner in a spot.

“I debated whether to close,” Stoner said. “I don’t want to have customers or my employees hurt. I can’t go on with people being put in these situations.”

Closing, though, would mean paying rent on an empty building until the lease ran out.

So Stoner came up with an interesting solution.

Starting today, the store won’t accept cash. It will take credit cards, debit cards or checks, but if you want to spend cold, hard cash, it just won’t work, not at Stoner’s Novelty Market.

It’s the only way Stoner knows to combat robbers. Make sure there’s no cash for any robber to take.

Stoner says the Chamber of Commerce tells him he’s the only store in the area that has taken that route, but it’s not a unique idea. It’s catching on, especially on the East Coast. Heck, even Monopoly has come out with a new cashless version of the game.

There are all kinds of advantages to not accepting cash. Without cash, employees have a harder time ripping you off, robbers have nothing to take, and you don’t have to go to the bank with the day’s receipts.

Stoner knows it might create a little bit of inconvenience for some of his customers, but practically everyone has a credit card or debit card or checking account. People buy soft drinks at gas stations using debit cards, and Stoner has even had people buy single greeting cards using credit cards instead of cash.

Let’s hope it works, and though most crooks don’t read the paper, maybe word will spread: At Stoner’s, the cupboard is bare.