It’s October, which means it’s timefor candy apples, colorful foliage andmaking extra room on the gondolasfor Halloween candy. Halloween is oneof those holidays that brings the kid out ineveryone, giving people a fun excuse todress up in costumes, make their homesextra spooky and eat more candy thanany human stomach is supposedto hold. It’s also one of the fewoccasions of the year thatpulls the pranksters out inthe open.
While petty attempts attheft aren’t anything new forthe c-store industry, there arealways a few cases that make peoplescratch their heads and snicker.In this special Halloween edition ofBackRoom, CSD shows off some of theweirder antics, costumes, tricks and treatsrecently seen in local convenience stores.
Bad Costume for a Bad Guy
Good masks are not only hard to find, butcan also be very expensive to bootquitethe problem for both Halloween partygoersand armed robbers. However, one robberfound a way around thissnag by making his ownmaskout of duct tape.The incident took placein Huntington, W.V., when KaseyG. Kazee, 24, attempted to hold up alocal convenience store disguised in onlya few strands of the sticky gray stuff mummywrappedaround his face. Bill Steele, thenot-so-amused storeowner, remainedundaunted by Kazee, stopping the assailantwith a few well-placed blows from thebaseball bat he keeps behind the counter.Steele later wrestled the poorly costumedperp to the ground and kept him in a headlockuntil police arrived.
The sad part is that Kazee probably stillwouldn’t have been able to afford a realmask with the money he grabbed from thestore: a mere two rolls of coins.
Barely Legal Baby
Kazee wasn’t the only one who decidedto run amok in disguise. Recently, stores inthe Tulsa, Okla. area have been terrorizedby a grown man wearing nothing morethan a diaper.
The burly baby, whose identity is still amystery, seems to have another fetish, targetingonly c-stores. So far, nobody hasbeen hurt or threatened, just confused.Surveillance cameras have caught theman in action during his typical routine,which consists of coming into the store fullyclothed, running into the bathroomand re-emerging in his infantunderwear.
While some witnesses say thediaperdude confessed to doing the deedson a dare, police are still looking for the20-something psycho on charges ofindecent exposure.
Tricks Without the Treat
Two boys, 11 and 14, in Leavenworth,Kan., pulled a mean trick of their own bytrying to rob a c-store with a couple ofplastic water pistols. The real deceptioncame when it was revealed that the boyswrapped black electrical tape over the purplepistols in order to make them appearmore real.
Nobody was hurt at the scene, partiallythanks to the guns not being loadedwithwater.
Surprisingly, the trick did almost work inthe boys’ favor. While the unimpressed clerkwas wrestling the gun away from the olderboy, the younger reached in and snatchedmoney from the register. Soon after bothboys made it out of the store, the policeapprehended them on foot. Currently, theboys are being held in a detentioncenter for robbery and will probablymiss Halloween.
