OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla.,None — Surveillance video captured two armed robbers who held up an Osceola County 7-Eleven early Thursday morning, wearing strange disguises, including a SpongeBob SquarePants mask. Osceola County deputies said the gunmen also tried robbing another nearby store.
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The masked men first hit the 7-Eleven on Buenaventura Boulevard around 4:00 a.m., where they fired shots at the clerk, investigators said. Then, officers said they tried to rob the Walgreens on East Osceola Parkway, but were unsuccessful because there was no one inside the store.
The two robberies happened just minutes apart, deputies said.
However, at the 7-Eleven only two blocks down the road, they were able to get away with a lot of money.
In surveillance video released by the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, a man is seen with a black mask holding up a clerk at gunpoint at the 7-Eleven. Moments later, his accomplice is seen entering the picture. He's also holding a gun, but instead of wearing black, he's sporting a bright yellow SpongeBob SquarePants mask.
"It's not unusual for criminals to disguise their identity. It is unusual he would use that particular character," said Twis Lizasuain of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.
One of the robbers fired their gun at the ceiling and the clerk opened the register, deputies said. But, instead of waiting for the cash, the man in the black mask stole the entire drawer full of money.
The sheriff's office won't say how much they got away with.
As they left the store, deputies said the man in the black mask fired again and this time directly at the cashier, but he wasn't hurt.
Just minutes earlier, deputies said the same pair was caught on surveillance video trying to rob a Walgreens.
"At Walgreens was an attempted robbery. One of the suspects walked into the store, realized no one was in the store and left immediately," said Lizasuain.
Deputies said they believe the two got away on foot, but they're looking into the possibility that they had a getaway car waiting nearby.
WFTV
