Maybe these robbers should have had a practice run first.
Two men allegedly used a fake gun to rob a Payless Shoe Source in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side Tuesday night, but the whole awkward event, which was captured on security cameras, is more comical than it sounds, police said.
At about 8:45 p.m., two men wearing ski masks walked into the store and announced a robbery, according to authorities. But one of the criminals was having a problem already.
"This one kid comes into the store, he realized he forgot to pull the ski mask down so he pulled it down real quick – so the eyeholes were off, causing him to begin stumbling around," before adjusting it, reports a source for the Sun-Times.
One of the men drew out a weapon... sort of. Sources have described it to be a drill, a staple gun or a wrench covered in duct tape.
Perhaps strangest of all, one female customer was so engaged with her cell phone, she didn't stop talking during the robbery! In fact, she purchased her shoes and walked out of the store—still on her phone—after the whole event oblivious to the felony being perpetrated in front of her.
The two robbers made their escape in a 1990 Honda Accord after taking an undisclosed amount of cash from the register. Someone inside the store got the license plate number, which police used to track down the owner.
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The owner turned out to be the girlfriend of one of the suspects, according to Chicago Breaking News. Police searched her residence and found the two 23-year-old men, the stolen money, the fake gun, and the ski masks.
The two suspects were arrested only 30 minutes after the hold-up, said police.
Now they're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Matt Bartosik is a Chicago native and a social media sovereign.
