By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
AURORA, Colo. — The armed, disguised man seemed to have everything he needed to pull off a robbery at an Aurora e-cigarette store on Sunday — except competence and nerve.
When the robber entered the store at 5:30 p.m. and pulled out what appeared to be a long-barreled hand gun, he immediately fumbled it across the counter. The gun fell to the feet of the store clerk, who picked it up. As the suspect ran away, his pants fell to his knees.
“I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of an armed robbery, but the guy really does belong in the ‘world’s dumbest criminals,’” said Chris Burgess, owner of an E-Cig of Denver store located in Aurora. “He needs to find a new career.”
Aurora police are now trying to identify the jittery robber and arrest him, said Officer Kenneth Forrest, spokesman for the Aurora Police Department.
Burgess said he just opened the Aurora store at 2222 S. Havana St., his third e-cigarette store.
“It probably had only about $100 in the cash register,” he said.
On Sunday, a man wearing a red ball cap, sunglasses and a Denver Broncos sweat shirt repeatedly walked back and forth in front of the store. Apparently it took several passes to confirm the female store clerk was alone.
Surveillance cameras captured the bumbling robber’s entrance. The man walked directly to the clerk’s counter, reached under his sweatshirt and pulled out a gun, holding it upside down and gripping it with his fingertips. The gun flew out of his fingers and onto the floor.
As the would-be robber climbed up onto the counter, the clerk picked up the gun and held it like a club, Burgess said. The suspect immediately turned and ran towards the door, his pants slipping from his waist. When he kicked open the door, his pants dropped lower down to his knees as he reached down to pick them up.
“Our policy is give them whatever they want,” said Burgess, referring to armed robbers. But in this case, the clerk reacted appropriately.
The gun was actually an air or BB-gun, Burgess said.