Robber apologizes during Vt. general store holdup

[November 22, 2008]  WEST DANVILLE, Vt. (AP) -- A thief who robbed a general store apologized to the owner and left the singles behind so workers on the next shift would have something in the till. The knife-wielding man made off with an undetermined amount of money from Joe's Pond Country Store on Wednesday after threatening owner Jeff Downs.

"I'm very sorry I have do this," he told Downs.

When Downs asked him to leave behind the $1 bills for the morning shift, he agreed.

No arrests have been made, Vermont State Police Lt. Timothy Clouatre said Friday.

"Usually, they're in more of an angry mode, `Just give me the money and get out,'" he said. "Maybe this is somebody who's just desperate, but isn't a career criminal."

Downs suggested that money is scarce in the wrong places. "Wall Street tycoons can't live on millions and here is this kid willing to be shot or go to jail for a couple of hundred bucks. Something is not right."

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Information from: The Caledonian-Record, http://www.caledonian-record.com

[Associated Press]

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