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Attempted Armed Robbery Ends In Group Hug
CBS News ^

Posted on 07/16/2007 8:26:14 AM PDT by John Cena

Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug.

It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses.

Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke.

"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle.

The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants.

The story then turns even more bizarre.

"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?"

Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, Va., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed.

"Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied.

The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand. Nothing was stolen, and no one was hurt.

Once he was gone, the group walked into the house, locked the door and stared at each other _ speechless. Rabdau called 911, and police came to take a report and dust for fingerprints.

Police classified the case as strange but true. Investigators have not located a suspect. The witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs.

"We've had robbers that apologize and stuff but nothing where they sit down and drink wine. It definitely is strange," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, adding that the hugs were especially unusual. "The only good thing is they would be able to identify him because they hugged him."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: appeasement; darwincandidates; liberals
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1 posted on 07/16/2007 8:26:15 AM PDT by John Cena
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To: John Cena

Not as strange as the atttempted bank robbery in Maine by a perp disguised as a tree.


2 posted on 07/16/2007 8:29:29 AM PDT by AU72 (`)
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To: John Cena
Look for Sen. Barack Obama to propose a national policy based upon hugging armed robbers.

Oh, wait. He already did.

3 posted on 07/16/2007 8:30:11 AM PDT by The KG9 Kid
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To: John Cena

This story is gay.


4 posted on 07/16/2007 8:31:55 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: John Cena

Wine and cheese??

Smith and Wesson.....


5 posted on 07/16/2007 8:32:05 AM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Fight Crime. Shoot Back.)
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To: John Cena

Sounds like the script to a lame commercial for some off-brand of wine...


6 posted on 07/16/2007 8:36:38 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (You can take the boy out of the country, but you just can't get the smell off his shoes.)
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo

Someone needs to dust that wineglass for prints, because I’m convinced that this whole story is hooey.


7 posted on 07/16/2007 8:37:50 AM PDT by Macrinus
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To: Macrinus

It is definently strange. I read it and I was like WTF?


8 posted on 07/16/2007 8:43:28 AM PDT by John Cena
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To: nina0113

Weirdest story of the month.


9 posted on 07/16/2007 8:44:27 AM PDT by Steve0113 (Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. -A.L.)
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To: Macrinus
Someone needs to dust that wineglass for prints, because I’m convinced that this whole story is hooey.

I don't think so, saw this on Fox last night. They got the guys prints off the wineglass, but did not say if they have found him yet.

I was telling my wife that the PROPER end to this story would have been after the group hug, somebody bonk him with an empty wine bottle and held him there till the police came. Or shoot him if he still poses a threat.

As it stands, he is still at large and I'm sure remembers where they live....

10 posted on 07/16/2007 8:56:40 AM PDT by lovecraft (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: John Cena

This seems really fake, but if there is a police report on it I guess it might be true...

still dubious...


11 posted on 07/16/2007 9:03:21 AM PDT by squarebarb
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To: Macrinus

I saw these folks on TV the other day, my BS meter was pegged too.

They did impress me as being wide-eyed moonbats, so either this is:

A) A fabricated event to “prove” that guns are not required for self-defense.

-or-

B) A family that was lucky that the intruder did not have real homicidal tendencies.


12 posted on 07/16/2007 9:06:54 AM PDT by NY.SS-Bar9 (DR #1692)
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To: NautiNurse
The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

Ping!

13 posted on 07/16/2007 9:09:40 AM PDT by 2Jedismom (http://kimsbug.blogspot.com/)
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To: Hegemony Cricket; All
Sounds like the script to a lame commercial for some off-brand of wine...

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

14 posted on 07/16/2007 9:19:16 AM PDT by Cobra64 (www.BulletBras.net)
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To: lovecraft

No description of the robber though everyone got a good look at him? Gee how comforting to know there is yet one more scumbag out on the streets of DC, preying on innocent people. If he really exists.


15 posted on 07/16/2007 9:36:48 AM PDT by TNCMAXQ
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To: Cobra64

Why would you post a picture of a bunch of bottles of skanky old vinegar? ;-)


16 posted on 07/16/2007 9:37:10 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (You can take the boy out of the country, but you just can't get the smell off his shoes.)
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To: All

The mere notion of a group hug is nauseating enough...

I think the moral of this story is that proper, well educated people do not need firearms to defend themselves. If we all say we’re sorry, that’s good enough.


17 posted on 07/16/2007 9:46:53 AM PDT by haplesswanderer (Ron Paul 2008 - End the Fed, Fire the IRS, NO NORTH AMERICAN UNION!)
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To: John Cena

Pardon the speculation. The victims were probably lobbyists and everyone knows that it is lobbyist’s job to charm the pants off highwaymen we refer to as Congressman. The only difference between this robber and the ordinary Congressman was he was packing heat. What Congressman cannot resist fine wine and fine food and a stroke or two on the ego?


18 posted on 07/16/2007 9:55:45 AM PDT by Biblebelter
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To: lovecraft
The man walked away a few minutes later with the crystal wine glass in hand.

Which one did they take prints from?

19 posted on 07/16/2007 10:03:50 AM PDT by SwatTeam
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To: TNCMAXQ

No description on that report last night...I was wondering if the perp would see that report, see how they were sort of making fun of him, and decide to go back for a little payback.


20 posted on 07/16/2007 10:16:30 AM PDT by lovecraft (Specialization is for insects.)
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