Accused 8-Year-Old Armed Robber Was 'Mad,' Report Says

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — An 8-year-old boy charged in a recent armed robbery of a grocery store wove an elaborate tale for police after being disarmed and captured by employees.

According to an incident report released by the West Palm Beach Police Department Tuesday, the child told the responding officer that he was approached by two black men, wearing all black with black masks, who gave him the gun and told him “if he didn’t get money out of the store that they would kill him,” the report states.

That story flew until the boy’s mother arrived on the scene and spoke with officers. She told them the gun in question was hers and it had been taken from her purse just before the robbery occurred. The mother is a Florida concealed weapons permit holder, the report noted.

The robbery attempt unfolded just before 6 p.m. Feb. 3 when a child entered Kings Food Market, 1000 36th St., wearing a black long-sleeve sweater, dark shorts and a black-and-white bicycle helmet. The helmet had a white T-shirt tucked inside to conceal the child’s face and the boy had a green towel draped over this right hand, concealing the gun, police noted.

See Also:

• 8-Year-Old Charged In Armed Robbery
• Wendy’s Drive-Thru Gator Toss Lands Man In Jail

Once inside the store, the boy is accused of walking up to a clerk, pointing the 9mm gun at her and demanding money. The child, the report noted, used an explicative in making his demand.

The action was caught on the store’s video camera and was also noticed by several employees. A co-worker is credited with disarming the boy who was subsequently placed inside a small closet until police arrived, the report noted.

The boy’s mother later told police that her son admitted to the crime, telling her he did it “because he was mad,” the report said. She also identified the green towel as one that belonged to her and the bicycle helmet as belonging to her young son. She didn’t elaborate about what had made the boy so “mad.”

The child, who is not being identified by Patch because of his age, was charged with one count of attempted armed robbery with a firearm and one count of aggravated assault. His mother, who also is not being identified by Patch, was not charged, the report said.

The child’s mother has told several media outlets she thought her son was out playing with friends when the crime occurred. She’s also said she wishes she would have kept her gun locked up.

The boy was booked into a West Palm Beach juvenile detention facility on Friday, Detective Lori Colombino told Patch.

Image via Shutterstock