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Pastimes : Laughter is the Best Medicine - Tell us a joke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: honjohn007 who wrote (30561)	2/6/2004 7:47:20 AM
From: 1king	Respond to of 62562

out of the morning paper ... Comedy of errors lands robber a year's house arrest By Brian Medel / Yarmouth Bureau Digby - Jonathan Melanson got out of his gold Chevy Cavalier at sundown, pulled a bandana over his nose, cowboy-style, and walked into a Needs convenience store in Digby. The 25-year-old Weymouth man approached the counter and told the clerk it was a stickup. Inside his sweater, he held an extended finger, like a gun. What happened over the next few moments last Aug. 8 was captured by a surveillance camera - and likened to watching a slapstick comedy. Mr. Melanson pleaded guilty Thursday in Digby provincial court to wearing a mask while committing a crime. Judge Jean-Louis Batiot sentenced him to a year of house arrest and imposed a $100 victim fine surcharge. Inside the Needs store, Mr. Melanson demanded cash. The clerk picked up the phone and dialed 911 while the robber stood there pointing his finger. "Wait a moment and I'll find out," the clerk told the 911 operator. "What's your name?" the cashier asked the robber. "I've got the police on the phone." Mr. Melanson didn't give his name but began to panic. At one point, his orange bandana slipped off his face and the clerk gave the operator a detailed description of the robber. Mr. Melanson took his hand from under his sweater and retied the mask before returning his hand to its original position as a pretend weapon. Then he ran to the door but returned to the counter and did a couple of laps inside the store before disappearing into the night. About five hours later, police saw a gold Cavalier beside Highway 101 near Weymouth. Mr. Melanson was trying to flag down traffic and was arrested. Defence lawyer Darren MacLeod said his client, a fisherman, was a habitual abuser of drugs, including crack cocaine. "I just want to apologize," Mr. Melanson told Judge Batiot. "I'd never do something like that unless I was on cocaine." Mr. MacLeod said his client has been drug-free since the robbery. Crown attorney Rosalind Michie suggested house arrest of two years less a day for Mr. Melanson. The maximum penalty for wearing a mask while committing a crime is 10 years in prison. The Crown offered no evidence on an attempted theft charge.