Jeffrey Caplan
The police account seems straight out of a “Scooby Doo” episode: the kids foiled the crime, captured the bad guy, pulled off his mask and gasped as they recognized the suspect: Sean Coulson!
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You can practically hear the surprise in Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby’s voices as they say in unison the name of their former boss at the pizza shop, who allegedly tried to rob the place with a fake gun.
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“Oh, I was definitely shocked by it, yeah,” employee Trevor Kosla told WCVB. “Completely shocked. I know him well, personally.”
Surveillance video at Northeast Pizza in Barre, Mass., on Tuesday showed a masked man enter the restaurant, throw a bag over the counter and then hop over himself. He forced an employee to help him open the register as he brandished a firearm, which reportedly turned out to be a fake.
“Pretty insane. Still a little shaky, shocked about it,” Kosla told WCVB. “I was just frozen in my tracks. I did not have time time think about the plan or anything like that. I just reacted.”
At that point, Kosla wrestled the robber to the floor. Two other employees then jumped on the robber and kept him pinned until police arrived.
Police officers cuffed the robber, and then came the unveiling. Authorities said it was Coulson, the pizza shop’s former manager.
Employees said Coulson, 30, was fired last summer for coming to work drunk and giving away pizza for free.
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Coulson reportedly told police that the whole thing was a joke, but police said what they saw on the surveillance video showed a person who aggressively tried to rob the place.
“It is pretty clear that he ran into the business; he was very aggressive. He did strike the employee by the neck, demanding money,” an officer said following the incident.
Coulson faces charges that include armed robbery and assault.
The robber might have gotten away with it, if not for those meddling kids.
Hopefully, the heroes enjoyed a well-deserved Scooby Snack.
