In the realm of chain-restaurant robbers, the guy who stuck up a Subway in Pasadena last night was somewhat of a walking disaster [Pasadena Star News].

First, according to Pasadena Police Lieutenant Rodney Wallace, the man strolled into the 24-hour sandwich joint on South Arroyo Parkway and bought some cookies.

Yes, bought. Not demanded. But, see, that was all part of the plan —

Because when the poor girl at checkout opened the cash register to tuck away his cookie money, “the man pulled out a handgun and told her not to close it.”

This is where his plan began to unravel.

Instead, the employee freaked out and slammed the drawer shut before locking herself in the bathroom, Wallace said.

Thus rendering, of course, the little drawerful of booty inaccessible to the thief, despite all prior badassery at gunpoint. So what does he do? He takes the entire cash register, along with the $500 inside.

Detective Reavis tells the Weekly that this type of behavior is actually fairly common among Pasadena thieves. And that the employee did very much the right thing, given her situation. (Learn something new every day, right?)

This particular bad guy is described as a tall, dark black man in his late 20s, about 180 pounds. So if you see someone by that description axing away an old Subway register, get suspicious.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

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