14-year-old boy holds up tobacco shop with plastic gun in Ardèche

A 14-year-old teenager wearing a balaclava and armed with a plastic gun managed to rob a tobacconist’s cash register on Friday, August 30 in Annonay, Ardèche, the Privas prosecutor’s office confirmed to France Bleu Drôme Ardèche on Saturday. The young man was quickly arrested and taken into custody for theft by a person who had concealed his face.

The teenager from Annonay has no criminal record. Armed with his fake gun, balaclava over his head, dressed all in black, he asks the employee of the tobacconist’s to empty the 190 euros from the till into a bag. On his way out, he runs into the municipal police and flees.

To find him, the gendarmerie mobilized patrols from the Annonay brigade, the gendarmerie surveillance and intervention platoon (PSIG) and the municipal police. For her part, the employee of the tobacco shop raised the alarm with the description of the suspect. In less than half an hour, the teenager was arrested in Mignot Park, a few steps from the tobacco shop, balaclava in his belongings.

In police custody, he admitted the facts and explained that he wanted to earn a little money. He must appear before a judge on Saturday during the day. The Privas prosecutor’s office must request a ban on appearing at the scene of the theft and the application of a curfew until the date of the hearing.