COP TO VICTIM: WHAT CALIBER POTATO DID THE ROBBER DISPLAY?

Rhode Island man attempts two stickups with a potato

This schmoe is in serious need of some immediate and prolonged downtime at Babbling Brook Farm.

POTATO-WIELDING MAN TRIED TO ROB STORE, DRY-CLEANERS
Talk about a half-baked crime

By Dan McGowan

WPRI 12
April 22, 2014

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Providence police say a man carrying a potato disguised as a gun unsuccessfully attempted to rob a convenience store and a dry-cleaners in the city’s Charles neighborhood Monday afternoon.

The first report came around 2 p.m. when police reported to Branch Avenue convenience store where the store’s manager said he chased the suspect off with a baseball bat after he shouted “give me the money” to the cashier, according to a police report obtained by WPRI.com.

The suspect was described as a white or light-skinned Hispanic male and was about 5’7” tall. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Minutes later, police reported to a Charles Street dry-cleaners where a female clerk said a man fitting the same description and carrying a potato yelled “I need the money.”

The clerk handed him a counterfeit $20 bill from a decoy cash register before he walked off.

She described the suspect as being in his twenties with white lips. She said he was of average height and a thin build.

Both locations had surveillance systems, but no arrests have been made.