A clerk in the Giant Eagle on Route 30 was assaulted Thursday by robbers who tried to make off with two cartons of cigarettes.

State police in Greensburg said Michael Franklin and Crystal Baker, both of Greensburg, approached cashier Tracey Hall at around 4:10 a.m. and asked for four packs of cigarettes, then changed their minds and asked for four cartons.

Hall told police that when she asked the pair to pay for them, Franklin grabbed her around the neck.

She screamed. Franklin let go, grabbed two of the cartons, and fled with Baker, police said.

Several employees chased them into the parking lot and took down the license number of their car. Soon afterward, state police pulled over their car and arrested them.

Franklin was charged with robbery, theft, simple assault, harassment, and endangering another.

Baker and Roseann Zepeda, an apparent accomplice who was waiting in the car outside, were charged with criminal conspiracy and receiving stolen property.