Robber Falls Through Store's Ceiling

Link : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041019/ap_on_fe_st/ceiling_robbery&e=5

LAPORTE, Ind. - A man wearing a white Halloween mask fell through the ceiling of a check-cashing store, but managed to escape with an unknown amount of money from the safe, police said.



The man surprised a clerk Saturday as he fell through the ceiling and locked her in a back room as customers and other employees were outside, police Capt. Lynn Cains said.


"The parking lot was full," he said. "It was a typical Saturday morning where everybody was shopping and running around."


The robber and two other men apparently waited for several hours in an empty office next door to the Cash in a Flash store before they climbed into the ceiling about 10:30 a.m.


"They gave the clerk time to open the safe," Cains said.


Their plans went awry when the man fell through the ceiling, he said. "They had planned to go in and surprise the clerk, but they probably surprised themselves as much as her."


From there, the robber told the clerk he had a gun and locked her inside a back room while the other men lowered themselves into the office, grabbing the money from the safe before leaving out the front door, Cains said.


The robbers were still at large on Tuesday, police said.