It?s in the bag: Robber?s disguise a dead giveaway
A robber who thought he could beat the heat by disguising himself in a parka and plastic shopping bag to rob a downtown hotel has found out the hard way that what he did just wasn?t cool.
The grocery-bag bandit walked into the lobby of the Four Points Sheraton hotel on King Street at 1 a.m. yesterday and told the male clerk that he had a knife and demanded money.
The man, who was wearing a blue parka and had a plastic bag pulled over his face, fled empty-handed through a Clarence Street exit.
About 90 minutes later, a man wearing the same bizarre disguise walked into the lobby of the Radisson Hotel, about a block away on Johnson Street.
Not surprisingly, the hotel?s night manager immediately spotted the odd-looking character.
?I automatically assumed this person wasn?t here to get a room,? Larry Voskuilen said in an interview.
?It?s not very often you see a guy in 30-degree heat wearing a parka and a plastic bag over his head. I knew he was there to rob me. You just don?t walk in with a parka and a plastic bag over your head to check in.?
The manager, who was sitting inside the hotel restaurant, watched the man as he made his way through the hotel lobby before he approached the man to ask what he wanted.
The masked man fled after Voskuilen confronted him.
?There was one hole he had made in the plastic bag for one eye ? not two, just one,? he said. ?I asked him if I could help him. He said no and then he left.?
The manager said the robber appeared to be thrown off by the fact that there wasn?t a hotel employee at the front desk.
?I approached him and I think I scared him more than he scared me,? he said.
?He was very agitated and very nervous.?
Voskuilen also said the man pulled the plastic bag off his head as he was running through the doors of the lobby.
But before he disappeared out of sight, the manager got a look at the robber?s balding head as he dashed up Johnson Street before turning right onto Ontario Street.
?We all kind of chuckled about it afterwards because of the disguise the guy had on, but later we thought about what could have happened,? he said.
?The fear factor was definitely there.?
At 3 a.m., Kingston police spotted a vehicle with three men inside on nearby Gore Street.
As officers followed the car, they noticed that the man in the back seat fit the description of the man who tried to rob the Sheraton earlier in the evening and entered the Radisson just moments before.
When the car stopped, all three men got out and ran off.
The suspected bandit was arrested just seconds later and a search of the car revealed a blue parka and a plastic grocery bag.
Dean Constantin Voukelatous, 35, was charged with robbery and disguise with intent.
One of the other two men in the car faces breach charges.
:nooo:
A robber who thought he could beat the heat by disguising himself in a parka and plastic shopping bag to rob a downtown hotel has found out the hard way that what he did just wasn?t cool.
The grocery-bag bandit walked into the lobby of the Four Points Sheraton hotel on King Street at 1 a.m. yesterday and told the male clerk that he had a knife and demanded money.
The man, who was wearing a blue parka and had a plastic bag pulled over his face, fled empty-handed through a Clarence Street exit.
About 90 minutes later, a man wearing the same bizarre disguise walked into the lobby of the Radisson Hotel, about a block away on Johnson Street.
Not surprisingly, the hotel?s night manager immediately spotted the odd-looking character.
?I automatically assumed this person wasn?t here to get a room,? Larry Voskuilen said in an interview.
?It?s not very often you see a guy in 30-degree heat wearing a parka and a plastic bag over his head. I knew he was there to rob me. You just don?t walk in with a parka and a plastic bag over your head to check in.?
The manager, who was sitting inside the hotel restaurant, watched the man as he made his way through the hotel lobby before he approached the man to ask what he wanted.
The masked man fled after Voskuilen confronted him.
?There was one hole he had made in the plastic bag for one eye ? not two, just one,? he said. ?I asked him if I could help him. He said no and then he left.?
The manager said the robber appeared to be thrown off by the fact that there wasn?t a hotel employee at the front desk.
?I approached him and I think I scared him more than he scared me,? he said.
?He was very agitated and very nervous.?
Voskuilen also said the man pulled the plastic bag off his head as he was running through the doors of the lobby.
But before he disappeared out of sight, the manager got a look at the robber?s balding head as he dashed up Johnson Street before turning right onto Ontario Street.
?We all kind of chuckled about it afterwards because of the disguise the guy had on, but later we thought about what could have happened,? he said.
?The fear factor was definitely there.?
At 3 a.m., Kingston police spotted a vehicle with three men inside on nearby Gore Street.
As officers followed the car, they noticed that the man in the back seat fit the description of the man who tried to rob the Sheraton earlier in the evening and entered the Radisson just moments before.
When the car stopped, all three men got out and ran off.
The suspected bandit was arrested just seconds later and a search of the car revealed a blue parka and a plastic grocery bag.
Dean Constantin Voukelatous, 35, was charged with robbery and disguise with intent.
One of the other two men in the car faces breach charges.
:nooo:
