BRADY TWP — State police are searching for a pair of strong-armed robbers who ambushed the owners of a convenience store late Saturday night.

The suspects blitzed one of the victims from behind outside the Country Corner Store before snatching a money bag filled with at least $7,000 from the couple’s small business on Route 8, authorities said.

The attack left 63-yearold Mary Tiberi with a broken thumb and other injuries.

“I hope they catch the (expletive),” Martin Tiberi, who owns the store with his wife, told the Butler Eagle this morning. But police have no suspects.

The Tiberis are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robbers.

The couple had gone to the store after it closed at 9 p.m. Saturday to tend to the business, Martin Tiberi said. They left about 10:35 p.m. and were in the parking lot when the robbers came seemingly out of nowhere.

Mary Tiberi, who was carrying the money bag, had just unlocked their vehicle when the assailants knocked her down, her husband said.

She broke her thumb in the fall and also suffered bumps and bruises. She was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital and later released.

One of the suspects grabbed the bag, which Martin Tiberi described as “like a big purse” and the robbers took off running across Route 8.

“It happened so fast,” Martin Tiberi said, noting his back was to the vehicle when his wife was accosted.

He was unable to get a good look at either suspect. Both were wearing hooded sweatshirts.

“They appeared to be both males and had slender builds,” he said. Based on the suspects’ quick getaway, he assumed the attackers were young.

The Tiberis did not see either suspect with a weapon.

The crime left Martin Tiberi wondering if at least one of the robbers had cased the store the previous night. He said he saw someone walk past the window in a crouched down manner Friday night but at the time didn’t think much of it.

The robbery left the Tiberis shaken.

“We’re a neighborhood store, a family place that everyone knows,” Martin Tiberi said. “We’ve never had any trouble like this before.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 724-284-8100.