Cops: Flanders man tried drive-through robbery
A Flanders man in a black cowboy hat and black vest tried to hold up a Riverside McDonald's early Sunday, telling a window clerk he would shoot if he didn't get hamburgers and money, State Police said.
Juan Mendez-DePaz, 33, was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
Police said Mendez-DePaz, a laborer, walked up to the drive-through window at the McDonald's on Flanders Road at about 12:05 a.m. and told the male worker at the window "to give him some hamburgers and money or he would shoot them," police said in a news release.
The suspect put his hands inside his vest and told the worker he had two guns, police said.
The worker closed the window and immediately called 911 with a description of the suspect and his unique clothing.
The McDonald's is right by state police offices, so when troopers arrived within a minute the suspect was still wearing his black cowboy hat in the parking lot, authorities said.
Mendez-DePaz displayed a large knife on his hip and after a brief struggle he was placed in custody, troopers said.
He was arraigned and being held Monday on a $50,000 cash bail. He is due back in court Friday.
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