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The unarmed bandit might have succeeded had he not chosen a target DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET from police HQ.
It was shortly before noon Wednesday, Feb. 21, when Santiago Munoz-Pelaez entered the Liberty Street CVS in a blue hoodie, batting gloves and a mask covering his nose and mouth, Little Ferry Police Chief James Walters said.
The pharmacist backed up after reading the note and told Munoz-Pelaez, 25, of Paterson that she was calling the police, the chief said.
Munoz-Pelaez ran out as she did, he said.
Instead of fleeing the area, though, Munoz-Pelaez headed to the nearby Lucky Stop Deli and tried again, Walters said.
He was reaching over the counter, his hands in the register, when Officer Mike Hinchcliffe rushed in, the chief said.
Munoz-Pelaez – who already was wanted on a pair of warrants out of Clifton – was charged with two counts of robbery. He remained held Friday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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