HE thought he was clever to play deaf and mute, but he turned out to be one really dumb robber instead.

A Taiwanese man's attempt to rob a supermarket in Hualien county of NT$5,000 ($236) was foiled when he was outwitted by an alert store employee.

Apple Daily Taiwan reported that the man, Huang Jun Xiong, 42, had gone to the supermarket wearing a safety helmet, a pair of sunglasses and a surgical mask.

He was also armed with a knife.

It is not clear exactly when this happened.

Huang bought a bottle of beer and proceeded to open it with his knife when he couldn't find a bottle opener.

He then scribbled on a piece of paper torn from a calendar: 'I am deaf and mute, I can't find a job, so I am temporarily breaking the law. I am not a bad person... I will return the money that I am taking.'

He then showed the note to the cashier and indicated that he wanted NT$5,000.

The quick-thinking employee pretended not to be able to read the writing on the note and asked Huang to write it again.

While Huang was rewriting his note, the employee secretly called his boss and the police.

When the police arrived, Huang was still diligently writing the note.


In his further scribblings he had written: 'This is my first time committing a crime. I'm very nervous. Don't report me!'

Huang was arrested on the spot.

The police also found a toy gun in Huang's possession and also found him to be drunk.

The motorcycle he was using was found to be a stolen one - from a luggage shop outside the Hualien train station.

He was also found to be normal and neither deaf nor mute like he claimed to be.

Bottles of unidentified pills were also found in his home.

He later confessed to that police that he was driven to crime because he urgently needed money. He has been charged with robbery.

Source