HAMMOND, La. – Tangipahoa deputies arrested a man that allegedly stuck up a gas station with a authentic-looking, plastic pistol, according to a statement from Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office spokewoman Dawn Panepinto.
Leslie Eugene Shaffett, 31, was arrested by police for armed robbery of a gas station on Pumpkin Center Road, said Panepinto.
According to police, the sales clerk said that a man entered the store around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday trying to sell a puppy. The same man returned around 1:30 a.m., pulling into the parking lot but quickly leaving. Ten minutes later he returned to the station, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He had a gun under his sweatshirt and demanded money.
He commanded the clerk outside the store, said police. “Once outside he told the victim that he had a scanner in his truck and if he heard the police being called, he would return. Then the white male got into his vehicle and drove off toward Old Baton Rouge Highway.”
A short time later, Shaffet was stopped by police in a vehicle that matched the description from the clerk and had a plastic handgun in his possession.
“Shaffett reported that he used a plastic gun because he could not afford a real one,” said Panepinto, though his “actions resulted in him being charged with armed robbery with a gun.”
