Maggie Valley police are in search of a man who assaulted an employee at Hillbilly Grocery and stole money Thursday night.

Police Chief Scott Sutton said the employee was closing the store around 9:20 p.m. when a tall, slender man wearing a mask punched her in the face as she was walking out.

The victim told police the man then pushed her inside the store and put an object to her back that she believed was a weapon.

He told her to give him money and he made away with an undisclosed amount of cash from the store.

The man is described as white with a "very light build," about 5 foot 11 and 130 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans and a gray v-neck t-shirt at the time.

"We are asking for anyone who could have been in the area or saw anything suspicious to please call us," Sutton said.