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ManBarbie's Mom Says He Didn't Do It
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 29, 2010
Modified Aug 29, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 29, 2010
Modified Aug 29, 2010
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Cops have arrested 19-year-old Robert King for the bizarre robbery of a Long Island stationery store. Surveillance shows King entering the store dressed in a blond wig and pink jumpsuit, then pulling a gun from his purse and demanding cash from the register. When the clerk fumbled with the register, King nabbed a Gatorade and fled on a woman's bike. However, both the store's owner and King's mom say the robbery wasn't as bad as it seems.
Store co-owner Zhou Yixin told Newsday (paywall) that he saw the robber, but didn't see his gun. Yixin recalls, "He said, 'I'm hungry.' I said, 'You take anything.'" King then took the Gatorade and left. The suspect's mother denies that it was even her son who was in the costume, and said a friend of his committed the crime and left the bike and clothes at their house. She cried at the First District Court yesterday, "Robbie is very gullible and naive and will do anything." He said her son has struggled with drug addiction, and was scheduled to start a treatment program on Monday.
Despite the relative innocuousness of his actions, Det. Lt. Mike Fleming said he was no less of a threat. "Although his disguise was comical, cross dressing as a woman, he did have the potential for violence." But he did give King kudos for his efforts. "This guy, his efforts were rather notable," Fleming said. "He did a good job of distracting people from his features by pretending to be a woman."
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