With the money in his hands, an alleged armed robber changed his mind and left a store without any cash after telling the clerk it wasn’t enough to pay for his daughter’s surgery.
Philadelphia police are now looking for the man who allegedly drew a gun as he approached a female clerk at the tobacco shop.
But when the man discovered the register was only carrying a couple hundred U.S. dollars, he backed out of the alleged robbery.
"That was unbelievable, what happened, because he actually had the money in his hand and refused to take it. He said it was not enough to pay for his daughter’s kidney transplant,” the owner of 1 Stop Smoke Shop, only identified as Kimo, told KYW-TV.
The store clerk said the alleged robber then put his gun away, became friendly with the clerk and left the store without physically hurting anyone or stealing anything.
However, the man is still facing an armed robbery charge and police said this was the best outcome despite the “violation of the law.”
Police Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said, "if you are going to commit a robbery, I guess the best type of robbery to commit is one where you don’t complete it and change your mind.”
Because police haven’t identified the suspect, it’s unclear whether he, in fact, has a daughter. But they told KYW-TV they’re interested to hear more about his alleged situation.
The store’s owner also had some sympathy for the man and doesn’t know what should happen.
“I think for willing to use the gun or taking it out of his pocket, he should be punished for that, but (at) the same time, as a society, we should do something to help people like that and not push him to the edge where they have to use a gun,” Kimo said.
