'Gimme It!': The Psychology of Robbery, Succinctly Stated

Criminologists and psychologists spend careers trying to pry out of the human mind just what it is in us that prompts most to obey the law and a few to flaunt it.

Maybe it comes down to just a couple of infantile words.

At 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, police were called to the Walgreens store at 2275 N. Mayfair Rd. on a report of a strong-arm robbery moments before.

A clerk told officers that he'd been at the front counter, with no other staff or customers around, when a man stepped up to buy a pack of Trident Watermelon Twist chewing gum.

"How's it going?" the customer asked, friendly-like. "How much is it?"

The clerk scanned the gum and told the man it came to $1.47. The man handed over $1.50 in coins.

As soon as the clerk opened the cash register drawer, he said, the "customer" reached over the counter and started to grab money out of it.

Surprised and alarmed, the clerk first jumped backward, afraid the man might have a weapon. But seeing none, he stepped back forward and tried to shove the cash drawer closed.

"Gimme it!" the robber shouted, with his hands clutching the tray. Back and forth they went, until on his third attempt the clerk was able to slam the drawer shut.

Whereupon, the robber ran out the door with what he had.

The clerk showed officers a small pile of money he'd picked up off the floor and counter, where it had landed after some flying around.

Police found that the metal clips that hold down the paper cash in the denomination slots of the drawer had mostly been wrenched askew, and one had been sprung out all together onto the floor.

An area search did not turn up hide or hair of the subject, who was described as black, 30 to 40 years old, 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-9 inches tall, 150 to 180 pounds, with a dark complexion, wearing a Detroit Lions baseball hat, a bright blue shirt with a Levi's logo on the front, dark shorts and shoes and white socks.

Video showed the crime just as clearly as the clerk described it, and also showed that the robber was not wearing gloves when he grabbed the cash. The cash drawer and clips were therefore taken into custody for examination for fingerprint and DNA evidence.