Man tried to rob Walgreens on work break, returned to work when he failed, Penn. cops say

A Pennsylvania man tried and failed to rob a Walgreens store during his work break Saturday morning — and it was his father and girlfriend who turned him in, according to police.

Police said Joseph Arnold Jr., 20, took the break around 4 a.m. on Saturday, just minutes into his shift at Harbor Freight in Palmer Township, LehighValleyLive.com reports. After using a marker to scrawl a robbery note on some paper, Arnold headed to a nearby Walgreens and grabbed a discarded T-shirt to disguise his face, according to police.

Inside the drugstore, the attempted robber passed the handwritten note to a cashier, Palmer Township police said in a Facebook post. The attempted robber also pulled a knife out of his pocket to intimidate the employee.

“This is a hold up, I am armed please empty everything,” the note said, WFMZ reports.

But the clerk wouldn’t hand over any cash, and reached for a phone to call police, which sent the failed robber running out the door, according to the TV station.

Police described the would-be robber as a 6-foot-2-inch white man in brown boots, black pants and a “black and white striped burlap Baja style hoodie.”

Police gave local news outlets surveillance footage of the attempted robber waltzing into the store, note in hand.

That surveillance video on the local TV news is how Arnold’s father and girlfriend realized Arnold was the suspect, and turned him in to police, WFMZ reports.

Police said the girlfriend told them she had purchased Arnold the boots he was wearing during the robbery, according to WFMZ. Arnold was also wearing her sweatshirt during the robbery, she said.

Arnold’s father told police he’d dropped his son off at work the morning of the attempted robbery — and he also dropped his son off to police after turning him in, according to the TV station.

Police said Arnold tossed the knife and returned to his job after the robbery attempt failed, LehighValleyLive.com reports.

Arnold faces charges of felony attempted robbery and attempted theft, as well as misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and possessing instruments of a crime, the Morning Call reports.

Arnold appeared in court Sunday and his bail was set at $200,000, WFMZ reports.