MONROE, N.C. (AP/WSVN) — Deputies in North Carolina say they’re seeking a teenager who robbed a 9-year-old’s lemonade stand at gunpoint.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that the stickup happened near a traffic roundabout in Monroe, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Charlotte.
Deputies say the young drink vendor reported that a male teenager with a camouflage hat and black shirt placed a black handgun to the boy’s stomach Saturday, demanded money and then fled on foot.
“I think people are capable of a lot of things but not robbing a child at a lemonade stand, that takes it to a new level,” Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Underwood told Fox 46.
The boy’s father, Philip Smith, said the thief got away with only $17.
“It’s pretty low, despicable in my book, and I can’t believe someone would stoop that low to steal money from him,” Smith said.
The boy has been selling lemonade to raise money and buy a new lawnmower for his other weekend business.
Despite the incident, the young business owner returned Sunday to continue making his sales.
“We are being resilient and he came out here to sell some lemonade today, just to be back at it and taking out time to process everything that happened,” Smith said.
Authorities found a camouflage hat, a black BB handgun and a stolen metal tin in some nearby woods. Deputies believe the suspect left a bicycle in the brush for his getaway.
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