Man in clown wig robs tobacco shop

A gunman wore a clown wig when he robbed a Portage Road smoke shop, police said.

A store clerk told police the man walked into Smokes For Less in the 1400 block of Portage Road Thursday morning at about 9:20 asking, “Is the old man here?”

The man - a black male in his 30s, 6 feet tall, wearing a red shirt, jeans, white tennis shoes and an orange, reddish curly wig - then walked behind the counter, police said.
When the clerk said nobody was allowed behind the counter, the man allegedly pulled out a silver pistol and ordered the clerk to open the cash register.

The gunman allegedly forced the clerk to hold a black plastic bag open while he took money out of the register and put it in the bag, then said, “Don’t move or I will you shoot you.”

He then grabbed three cartons of cigarettes and fled the store with the stolen loot, police said.