“Potato Perp”: Robbery try with spud is dud

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Providence police say a man carrying a potato disguised as a gun tried - but failed - to rob a convenience store and a dry-cleaners.

According to CBS affiliate WPRI, the first report of the "potato perp" came in around 2 p.m. Monday when police went to a convenience store where the manager said he chased the suspect away with a baseball bat, after he shouted "give me the money" to the cashier.

The suspect was described as a white or light-skinned Hispanic male and was about 5'7" tall. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Minutes later, WPRI reported, police responded to a dry-cleaners where a female clerk said a man fitting the same description and carrying a potato yelled "I need the money."

Perhaps realizing the suspect's "gun" was actually a tuber, and not a weapon, the clerk handed him a counterfeit $20 bill from a decoy cash register, and the man walked away.

There are no arrests to report in the potato mashup.