To Rob a McDonald’s, First Legally Purchase a Cheeseburger

How to rob a McDonald’s? Order a cheeseburger menacingly

There’s a whole genre of robbery “fail” videos out there: dropping money; thankfully failing to discharge weapons; being thwarted by the owners; running into glass doors or product displays. Undocumented until now is the kind of criminal exchange more suited to British comedy character Alan Partridge and his petrol station accomplice, Michael — an absurdist exchange between robber and robbed, blanketed in a — menacing —atmosphere of “what on earth is going on and how is it real?”

That’s exactly what happened in a Coventry McDonald’s, when Daniel Parra-Braun put a paper note on the service counter that read, “I am armed. Give till cash now.” To an observer, in hindsight, a clear sign that Parra-Braun definitely was not armed. In the moment: not at all the case. Then, a hitch — a McDonald’s till will not open unless a customer places a food order.

Parra-Braun, therefore, handed over a crisp £5 note to purchase a cheeseburger, legally. He then took the cheeseburger, the £4.01 change, the receipt — one can hope — and the rest of the money in the till, and fled. It was part of a McDonald’s robbing spree that took place over 12 hours and landed him five years in jail; there are no reports on how many cheeseburgers, McFlurrys, or other popular hot and cold items he had to legally purchase in that time. [Telegraph]

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