Man arrested in smoke shop robbery, assault

A man accused of stealing cash from a south Fort Worth smoke shop last week and punching a female employee in the head was arrested Tuesday, police reported.

Gregory Tyjuan Yarbrough, 35, was in the Fort Worth Jail on Wednesday facing robbery charges.

Police said he robbed the Smoke Zone, a tobacco store in the 7000 block of McCart Avenue, on March 31.

Video surveillance shows the 21-year-old employee, Julia Smith, bracing herself before she is hit in the right side of the head, toppling her onto the tile.

“That was the second time he hit me,” Smith told the Star-Telegram on Wednesday. “The first time, you can’t see it. Out of nowhere he punched me in the back of the head. I’m still having headaches from that.”

Smith said the robber, who is seen in the video directing her around the store, came in the Smoke Zone at least four times before the attack. She said detectives told her they would pursue an aggravated-assault charge.

“I knew his arrest was inevitable, but for it to happen so quickly — I definitely have a lot of peace of mind now,” she said.

Smith, who is starting at the University of Texas at Arlington next semester, said she is an avid supporter of women having concealed-handgun licenses, which she is working toward now.

Yarbrough was arrested in the 4000 block of East Lancaster Avenue on Tuesday afternoon by Fort Worth’s fugitive unit, said officer Daniel Segura, a police spokesman.

“The way that I look at it is that I have to forgive this man, and I just need to move forward and learn from this. It could have been so much worse,” Smith said.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Man arrested in smoke shop robbery, assault."