Call Me!
A young robber leaves his business card
It's just after
eight in the morning. A young man walks into car repair
shop in Chicago.
18-year old Ruben Carate is
wearing a mask. He is carrying a gun. He looks very
scary.
Carate waves his gun at the
employees behind the counter. ‘Open up the
safe,’ he orders. ‘And give me all the
money.’
The employees look nervously at each
other. ‘We can’t do that,’ they
tell the robber. ‘Only our boss has the
combination to the safe. And
he’s not here yet.’
The young robber now looks
confused. This is a problem he isn’t expecting.
‘When is he coming in?’ he asks.
‘We’re not sure,’ says a worker
called Tony Diaz. ‘Some time before lunch.’
‘But I can’t wait here all morning!’
complains the robber. ‘I’ve got things to
do.’
Here's my number
‘We could call you when our boss gets in,’
says Mr Diaz bravely.
There is a moment of tense silence. Mr Diaz looks
at the gun. He is regretting his joke. He expects to
be screamed at or worse.
But to everyone’s amazement Carate nods his
masked head. He carefully writes down his mobile
number. ‘Call me on this number as soon as he
gets in,’ he says.
‘Okay,’ says Mr Diaz.
Happy with this arrangement, Mr Carate backs out of the
shop. He is still waving his gun at the employees. 'You
guys must call me!’ he warns them.
‘Otherwise I'm going to come back to shoot you.'
Later that morning they do call Carate back. They also
phone the Chicago police.
'I'm back!'
Just before midday Carate returns. Plain-clothes
Chicago
police officers are waiting for him. ‘Stay at
the back of the shop,’ they tell the
employees.
Carate walks in. He’s wearing the same clothes
and the same mask. ‘I’m back,’ he
shouts. ‘And I want the money now.’
But the man now standing behind the counter is a police
officer. ‘Put your hands in the air!’ he
tells Carate.
The look of amazement on Carate’s face
quickly turns to fury. He does not put his hands up.
Instead he tries to attack the police officer.
The police officer shoots. He wounds Carate in the leg.
‘It's pretty funny now, but it wasn't at the
time,’ Diaz says.
‘No one could make this up," adds a police
spokesman.
Carate is treated in hospital for a gunshot wound. He
is then charged with attempted armed robbery and
assaulting a police officer.
Read about another funny story involving a
thief and a mobile phone here