LYNNWOOD — An indecisive woman armed with a toy gun and an apparent sweet tooth is behind bars after she started to hold up a gas station but settled for a candy bar instead, police said.
The Lynnwood woman, 28, walked into a 76 station on Tuesday night. She said, “I have a gun so give me all of your money,” Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions reported.
The clerk told police it appeared that the woman had a gun hidden under her shirt. The clerk told the woman she didn’t have any money.
“The suspect said, ‘OK, then I’ll take a candy bar and a bottled water,’ ” Sessions said. But instead of taking anything, she left the gas station empty-handed.
A few minutes later, she walked into the store, grabbed a candy bar off a shelf, unwrapped it and started to eat it, Sessions said.
The clerk noticed the gun that the woman was fiddling with under her shirt was a silver plastic toy.
The clerk called 911 and told an emergency dispatcher about the woman’s strange behavior and the fake gun, Sessions said.
Lynnwood police raced to the scene. The woman was inside the store when officers arrived, Sessions said. The woman was arrested and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree robbery.
Police believe the woman was drunk at the time of the botched heist.
“Even though she didn’t have a real gun, she implied it was real and she certainly meant to threaten the clerk,” Sessions said.
The situation could have turned dangerous quickly if the clerk or a customer believed they had to defend themselves against an armed robber, Sessions said.
“Who knows what could have happened?” she said. “It’s not a joke. She meant to steal money.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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