Crime Didn't Pay Much at the Payless Shoe Store

When the store clerk at Payless Shoesource in the Darinor Plaza at 500 Connecticut Ave. heard a chime at the door shortly before 1:30 p.m. Monday, she likely expected a customer. What she got was a robber.

This account is based on the police report:

He was a white male in his 50s, about 5 feet, 7 inches in height with a husky build, blondish gray hair and black eyeglasses with large frames. He may have walked with a limp, she later recalled. He pointed a handgun at her and told her to empty the register.

Then he told her to start walking to the back of the store.

She did as she was told. She could not have known at that point what the robber would do next.

When she heard the door chime again, she realized the robber was gone.

She turned around, and, following the procedure she was trained to follow, she locked the door and called police. The call was received by police at 1:34 p.m.

Police arrived at the scene and the matter was turned over to the detective bureau, which brought in a crime-scene investigation vehicle. Detectives continued working on the case that day and the next.

And what did the robber get for his troubles? Police said it was less than $100.