APRIL 17, 2004 – Six minors surrounded two women walking through French Town around 8:30 Thursday evening. According to police reports, one stuck what the victim said appeared to be a gun to her temple, and demanded money.
The weapon may have been a sparkplug posing as a gun, police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Hannah said. Hannah described how the tip of a sparkplug, when held a certain way, could resemble the barrel of a gun.
The gang ran off with the victim's purse containing around $90. The victim ran to a nearby bar and called 911.
Police caught up with three of the alleged assailants, all 15-year-olds, a short time later near their homes in the Hospital Grounds neighborhood.
Police took from the youths pocket and kitchen knives, screwdrivers, and several sparkplugs, Hannah said. No firearm was found.
"Anything they can use as a weapon," Hannah said. "And quite frankly they come up with some doosies."
Police have charged one of the youths with first-degree robbery and the other two with aiding and abetting robbery. They were charged and released into the custody of their parents. St. Thomas doesn't have a juvenile detention facility.
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