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.

With Ellen Yan