SALISBURY — Police are seeking information on a young blonde they believe to be desperate enough to try to rob a store across from the police station.

According to police Chief David L'Esperance, on Tuesday evening a woman described as being in her late 20s walked into Willey's Candy Store, located on Broadway at the corner of Railroad Avenue right across from the police station.

Wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and football jacket, she asked for and received popcorn, although she told the clerk she had no money to pay for it. After leaving the store, she returned shortly afterwards with the hood pulled over her head and asked for vanilla taffy, L'Esperance said.

As the employee was walking to get her the candy, the woman went around the counter and yelled for him to get down on his knees, L'Esperance said.

"She yelled, 'I have a gun,' and pointed a hard object from her pocket into the small of his back," L'Esperance said. "She reached into his pocket and took $20 from him. When he realized she'd used a tin cup to pretend it was a gun, he chased her out of the store and down Railroad Avenue."

State and Amesbury police responded to help Salisbury find the woman, including Amesbury officer Steve Nichols and his K-9 officer Kaybar. Kaybar was able to detect a scent and track the alleged thief into a condominium complex on Railroad Avenue and out onto Ocean Street. Although a bag of popcorn was found, the woman was not located.

Earlier that day, another man contacted the department to say a woman matching the same description was hitchhiking along North End Boulevard and waved him down, L'Esperance said.

"He said she offered her sexual services for a fee," L'Esperance said. "This is getting awful. I think there may be an addiction involved and that she was desperate. I think this is an isolated incident and that this woman is a transient. I don't think she knows the area. Why else would she attempt a robbery of a store across from the police station?"

The investigation is ongoing, and police are seeking the public's help, L'Esperance said. Police are hoping anyone who may have seen a woman meeting the same description in the area on Tuesday from about 5 to 7 p.m. will contact them at 978-465-3121.