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Video: Crook Takes Cash From Family Dollar Store

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – The Fort Lauderdale Police Department wants help from the public identifying a man who robbed a Family Dollar store and the entire theft was captured on surveillance video.

According to police, the suspect actually warned other customers while standing in line at the cash register.

Watch Carey Codd's report, click here.

"While he was standing in line, the customers were all lined up, you see that in the surveillance video, he takes the time to tell the customers, warn them, he's about to do something and he does not want them get involved," explained Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Deanna Greenlaw.

Ricky Allen was there.

He said he was about to pay the cashier, when the guy next to him get close and whispered in his ear.

"He leaned over and whispered and said, 'Back up!  You don't have anything to do with this.  Stay out of this'.  And that's when I just looked at him like 'what the hell," recalled Allen.

Watch Ted Scouten's report, click here.

It was Sunday, July 27th, around 6:50 p.m. when the crook went into the store located at 2789 Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale to buy a funnel.

He patiently waited in line but when it was his turn to pay, he made his move.

Allen said the guy whispered to a few people in line. At first, he was kind of confused, not sure what the guy was talking about, that is until the cash drawer opened.

That's when the man next to him reached in, pawing around for cash.

"I looked at him and I'm like, 'What are you saying?'" recalled Allen. "And that's when I paid for my stuff and she opened the register and he just reached over in the register and snatched the money."

That's when it clicked for Allen. The store was being robbed right in front of him and the man who implied he had a gun was standing just inches away.

"When she opened the drawer he said, 'give me the money.'  She was fumbling like she was getting the money and he's like, 'Hurry up! Bit**!'"
The chaser, Marie Thelusma, told CBS 4 News that the experience frightened her so much she asked for a transfer and then quit.

"When people come inside, I feel like my heart was beeping," she said. "My blood pressure was high."

Police also found it strange that, not only did the thief give everyone around him a "heads up", but that he patiently waited his turn before robbing the place.

"It is a little bit odd that he decided to stand in line with the other customers," said Detective Greenlaw. "Maybe that was his time to get the courage to go forward with that he had planned to do."

He may have planned it, but he did not plan it well.

When he ran off, he sprinted right into the path of a surveillance camera and it got a very clear shot of his face.

"You talking about the world's dumbest criminal," Ricky laughed, "He's got to be one of them!"

If you recognize the suspect, contact Detective Orlando Almanzar at 954-828-5546 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

Click to the video below to see the entire theft and see if you recognize the suspect.

FLPD: FAMILY DOLLAR ROBBERY (PR# 2014-070 www.flpd.org) by FLPDPIO on YouTube

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