SHERMAN, TX -- Sherman police say they foiled a possible burglary of a Sherman gas station.

Officers saw two men walk towards the door of the Exceleron gas station near downtown Sherman - one carrying a meat cleaver. They ran when they saw Police.

Sgt. D.M. Hampton, Sherman Police, said the officers were in the right place at the right time - and probably stopped the store from being robbed.

"They were making their way to the front door," he said. "I don't know of any other scenario that you could come up with to even conceive or think about with what they had on their person, that they weren't going to try to rob that store."

Police arrested 37-year-old Ernest Taylor and 30-year-old William Woods.

Hampton said in addition to the meat cleaver, they carried pepper spray, a switchblade knife and a knife with an almost six-inch blade - both knives are illegal.

"We appreciate our proactive Sherman Police Department in a situation that could have been dangerous to many businesses in the area, as well as all of the private residences nearby," Exceleron said in a statement.

The potential robbery is the third incident to happen in downtown Sherman this month. But Hampton and store owners insist there's no reason for alarm.

Sandi Key, a downtown business owner, isn't worried.

"I really feel it's a very safe place," she said. "Especially with the police station right down the street and the court house right across the street."

Jeanette Mayhugh owns an antiques store, and agrees the police keep the area safe.

"They're cruising through downtown quite often, so I'm sure that does make some difference," she said.

And Hampton said the general public are the "eyes" and "ears" of the police.

"Somebody may have driven by that's actually watching this broadcast, and actually had seen them, and thought 'that's kind of odd to see them hanging out there,' but then maybe didn't call," he said. "It's always best if you have that feeling that something's going on to give us a call, so we can send somebody out there and check them out."

Police arrested Taylor for possess of a prohibited weapon. They arrested Woods on a weapons charge, drug charge and multiple charges of property theft with previous convictions.