Crime & Safety

Police: Clerk Talks Robber Out of Taking Money From Mobil Station

The cashier told the man he was on camera, and "it was not worth it." The man left without the cash, but is charged with first-degree robbery.

A cashier talked an armed robber out of holding up the Mobil gas station at 8501 Morgan Ford Road Oct. 13.

St. Louis County Police said the man, a former store employee, hid a folding tactical knife under his sweatshirt, pointed it at the cashier and demanded she give him money from the register.

The clerk refused to give him the money and said he should just walk away because he was being recorded on a security camera, and “it was not worth it.”

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He left the convenience store without the money.

The man, Joseph Tolcou, 22, of the 4600 block of Hannover Avenue in South County, was charged with first-degree robbery.

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Police said he was identified on the security video.

Bail was set at $25,000.

Tolcou also was charged Friday with second-degree burglary. St. Louis County Police said he broken into a home in the 700 block of Cumberland Drive in the Lemay area between Oct. 6 and Oct. 8, 2011. Police said  he stole an Apple MacBook Pro laptop valued at $1,799.

Bail was set at $20,000 for the burglary charge.

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