Want to rob my store?
Come back later
VAPE SHOP
Cops are waiting when would-be thieves return and gang is arrested
By Patrick Griffin
A six-strong gang of would-be thieves were foiled by a
quick-thinking store owner who told them to come back
later if they wanted to rob his store. The incident happened
on a Saturday afternoon in October when the group entered
the store in Charleroi, Belgium. They started pushing and
shoving and demanded that the store owner hand over
money from the till and stock from the shelves.
The store owner, identified only as Didier, refused to give
them either the cash or stock and spent nearly 15 minutes
chatting to them to try and win their trust.
He eventually got them to leave by suggesting they could
either rob him now or, if they preferred, they could return
after the store had closed when the takings would be higher.
Amazingly they thought it over, agreed to return at 6.30pm
the same evening and Didier said he would be waiting for
them to come back.
In the meantime he called the police, explained his cunning
plan, but was advised that the gang would surely not fall
for such a ruse. Didier told reporters:
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“There was some pushing and shoving but I didn’t give
them a thing.
“I told them that 3pm is not the best time to hold up a store
because they might take 1,000 euros now while if they
came back later they might get €2,000 - €3,000. Clearly
they weren’t the brightest.
“It was like it was a comedy. They are being called the worst
robbers in Belgium.
“Obviously when they left I called the police. They decided
to come but said they did not believe the gang would come back.”
Then at 5.30pm - an hour before closing time - the group
came back but Didier was having none of it.
“I berated them saying ‘you have to buy a watch, it’s 5.30
not 6.30,’ and they left.”
Finally, right on schedule, the gang was back for a third
time and seemed genuinely surprised when police were
waiting for them in the back of the store.
Five males, including a minor were arrested at the scene,
while the sixth member of the group managed to escape.