EDGEWOOD, Wash. -- Holey underwear, Batman! A 49-year-old woman charged with stealing four packs of cigarettes from an Edgewood 7-Eleven on Sunday was foiled thanks to her distinctive smoker's voice and makeshift mask.
According to charges filed Monday with Pierce County Superior Court, Laura Connole entered an Edgewood 7-Eleven around 5:20 a.m. with one hand in her jacket pocket and the other holding some sort of mask over her face.
Connole reportedly demanded four packs of Pall Mall Menthols from the 7-Eleven clerk, then started thrusting the hand inside her jacket pocket at him when he tried to ignore her.
No longer able to ignore Connole and feeling sufficiently threatened, the clerk handed over the cigarettes and took down Connole's license plate number as she drove off, according to the charges.
When officers showed up at Connole's house, she told them the clerk was being a jerk and wouldn't sell her cigarettes so she had come home to get her fiance to buy them for her. Oddly, she also reportedly told them she bought two packs of Pall Malls despite not having any money.
According to the charges, the 7-Eleven clerk was brought to the location to identify Connole and noted she had the same distinctive, raspy voice as the robber.
In addition, a pair of gray underwear that appeared to have two eye holes cut in it fell out of Connole's jacket, according to the charges. Asked to explain the holes, Connole said they were her "swim underwear from yesterday" (a response that leads to more questions than it answers).
According to the charges, officers found three packs of Pall Malls on Connole and a fourth appeared to be in her car.
She was arrested and charged with robbery.
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