Posted on 08/14/2013 8:48:35 AM PDT by IbJensen
CHICAGO, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A Chicago restaurant owner foiled a robbery by telling the would-be holdup artists to come back later and when they did police cuffed them, authorities said.
Police and prosecutors said Mario Garcia, 39, and Domingo Garcia-Hernandez, 28, who live about a block away from the restaurant they allegedly tried to rob, had their bail set at $25,000 each after being arrested early Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported. Their next court appearance on attempted aggravated robbery charges will be next Monday, the newspaper said.
Domingo Garcia-Hernandez is also charged with possession of a replica firearm, since the weapon allegedly used was a squirt gun, police said.
A police report stated that even though Garcia-Hernandez allegedly told the restaurant owner he had a gun and would kill him during the Sunday night holdup attempt, the owner told them he was too busy and asked them to come back in an hour.
They left and the owner called police, who arrested them when they returned about 12:30 a.m. Monday.
Garcia had a metal baseball bat with him when taken into custody, police alleged.
Darwin Award??
Domingo Garcia-Hernandez is also charged with possession of a replica firearm, since the weapon allegedly used was a squirt gun, police said.So. It is against the law to possess a FREAKING SQUIRT GUN in Chicago?
Why am I not surprised?
Priceless.
Hilarious.
Posse member of the H20 No Habla Gang
Context is everything. In most jurisdictions, threatening someone with a fake gun carries the same consequences as using a real one. In many places there is no legal distinction between the two.
—So. It is against the law to possess a FREAKING SQUIRT GUN in Chicago?—
Actually the charge is not possession, but the use of the squirt gun to threaten. I think most states have similar laws. You are not excused just because the object you use to threaten someone in a robbery is not functional (unloaded, broken, a toy). It is the threat, after all, that is illegal.
You can understand the need for such a law: Without it, an armed robber could show that the gun he used was not loaded, therefore he could not be charged with armed robbery. The victim cannot know if the gun is loaded or not, just as they can’t know if the firing pin is broken or that it is a toy gun.
I am struggling with the “polite” robbers: “Oh, this is a bad time? No problem, we will come back to rob you later when it is more convenient for you.” The irony of such accommodation during an act of extreme selfishness is almost too much.
There is no context anymore. Not with regards to guns. The libs have gone off the charts stupid here.
When a child can get suspended for drawing a gun - or even eating part of a Pop-Tart so that is resembles a gun - we as a nation have lost our freaking minds.
Pretty soon you won’t be arrested for just threatening someone with a squirt gun - you will be arrested for just possessing one.
Sad.
UMMM, I dunno. Melanin enhanced seems more likely. Even Mexicans ain’t that damn dumb.
Soon, more of them will be voting!
No, but a squirt gun impersonating a firearm is a felony.
No doubt that these guys were Valedictorians!
I eventually switched career paths, but when I studied criminal justice in Michigan, the key element was ‘placing in fear’.
If the victim believed the gun was real and in fear of his/her life, the charge(s) were the same is if the gun was real. Makes sense to me.
There are also dumb white criminals like the two white guys who held up a Burger King on a snowmobile. They left tracks all the way home.
Please tell me that these two are the result of the awesome Mexican education system and not ours.
No, only if it is a “replica” gun that could be mistaken for a real gun. If it is a realistic looking squirt gun, it is supposed to have a bright orange cap on the end of the barrel.
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