Dad Brought Baby to Armed Robbery, Cops Say

A 30-year-old man, apparently pressed for childcare and cash, is accused of bringing an 18-month-old girl to an armed robbery on Thursday.

According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, the agency received a call just before 2 p.m. about an armed robbery at the Quick Stop store, 4025 4th St. N. A man wearing a mask, witnesses reported, held the clerk at gunpoint.

The man then took off in a car, the agency noted in an email to media.

Witnesses to the crime were able to give police a description of the vehicle. As it turns out, a patrol officer spotted the car in question a short time later and made a traffic stop at 7th Avenue North and Grove Street.

“Police found a mask, a gun and an 18-month-old baby girl in the car,” the agency’s email said.

The man, Edward Eric Melendez, was quickly brought into custody.

The baby, police say, is Melendez’s daughter.

Melendez is being charged with child endangerment, carrying a concealed weapon and for being a felon in possession of a firearm, among other counts, police say.

Photo of arrest courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department