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A loaded gesture
Marshfield man accused of using his finger as a fake gun
By MEG JONES
[email protected]
Last Updated: June 23, 2003
A masked man tried to rob a central Wisconsin pharmacy Sunday night armed only with his fingers.
The would-be robber didn't even try to conceal his pointed finger in a pocket to fool anybody into thinking he was holding a gun, authorities said.
He simply held up his gloved hand and pointed his finger, with his thumb extended like the cocked hammer of a pistol, at the pharmacy owner. It didn't work.
Now Joel D. Peterson, 30, of Marshfield faces attempted robbery charges. Prosecutors couldn't charge him with attempted armed robbery since a pointed finger isn't a weapon. Instead, Peterson was charged with attempted robbery with threat of force. He was also charged Monday with seven counts of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances.
At first, Bill Weiler, co-owner of Sniteman Pharmacy in downtown Neillsville, didn't believe he was being robbed when a masked man accosted him as he closed up shop Sunday evening.
"I kind of chuckled, 'This is a robbery?' and he pushed me and said, 'Yeah, this is a robbery,' " Weiler said Monday.
Because of the close quarters of the back room of the pharmacy, Weiler said that at first he believed the man's fingers were a pistol, "but then when he pushed me, I pushed him back. I realized it was not a gun."
Weiler, 55, said he wrestled with the intruder down a flight of stairs. During the fracas, Weiler pulled off the makeshift mask - a stocking cap with eyeholes cut out - and recognized Peterson because he had recently been accused of forging prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Peterson escaped but was arrested late Sunday in Jackson County. He is being held on $2,500 bail in the Clark County Jail and was ordered to appear in court on July 8.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun03/150286.asp
Marshfield man accused of using his finger as a fake gun
By MEG JONES
[email protected]
Last Updated: June 23, 2003
A masked man tried to rob a central Wisconsin pharmacy Sunday night armed only with his fingers.
The would-be robber didn't even try to conceal his pointed finger in a pocket to fool anybody into thinking he was holding a gun, authorities said.
He simply held up his gloved hand and pointed his finger, with his thumb extended like the cocked hammer of a pistol, at the pharmacy owner. It didn't work.
Now Joel D. Peterson, 30, of Marshfield faces attempted robbery charges. Prosecutors couldn't charge him with attempted armed robbery since a pointed finger isn't a weapon. Instead, Peterson was charged with attempted robbery with threat of force. He was also charged Monday with seven counts of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances.
At first, Bill Weiler, co-owner of Sniteman Pharmacy in downtown Neillsville, didn't believe he was being robbed when a masked man accosted him as he closed up shop Sunday evening.
"I kind of chuckled, 'This is a robbery?' and he pushed me and said, 'Yeah, this is a robbery,' " Weiler said Monday.
Because of the close quarters of the back room of the pharmacy, Weiler said that at first he believed the man's fingers were a pistol, "but then when he pushed me, I pushed him back. I realized it was not a gun."
Weiler, 55, said he wrestled with the intruder down a flight of stairs. During the fracas, Weiler pulled off the makeshift mask - a stocking cap with eyeholes cut out - and recognized Peterson because he had recently been accused of forging prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Peterson escaped but was arrested late Sunday in Jackson County. He is being held on $2,500 bail in the Clark County Jail and was ordered to appear in court on July 8.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jun03/150286.asp
