Apparently Out of Masks, Robbers Wore Watermelons

20-year-old charged with wearing a mask during robbery in Virginia
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 19, 2020 9:49 AM CDT
Apparently Out of Masks, Robbers Wore Watermelons
The suspects   (Louisa Police Department)

Police in small-town Virginia say they've nabbed one of two thieves who wore watermelons on their heads while robbing a convenience store earlier this month. The Louisa Police Department announced the arrest on Saturday, hours after sharing surveillance photos of the thieves wearing hallowed-out watermelons with holes for eyes at a Sheetz store on May 5 or 6, per Fox News. "Thank you to the community for all your assistance," the department added. Per NDTV, a user said he'd posed for a photo with the pair after finding them at another store on the day of the theft. The user even posted the image, which showed the suspects wearing the same clothing as in the surveillance images. "I've got to say though, they get an A+ for creativity," another user commented. "Well they couldn't find a mask anywhere!" a third wrote on the post, which has since been deleted.

"The amount of work that you have to do to actually hollow-out a watermelon to stick it on your head, I think, is kind of crazy," a Sheetz customer tells CNN. "Why? Why would they do that? It's so stupid." Police Chief Tom Leary says that the second suspect who arrived at the scene in a 2006 black Toyota Tacoma pickup truck is still being sought, though a 20-year-old man was arrested Friday. Justin M. Rogers is charged with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol, per WRIC. It's an "unusual" case for "a really nice, quiet town," Leary tells CNN. "This is definitely not something you see very often in Louisa." (More weird crimes stories.)

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