Area Clown Blamed for Del Taco Holdup

A trio of bandits -- including one man described as wearing a rubber clown mask -- held up a Del Taco on McCausland Avenue just south of Forest Park early this morning.

But no need to eye your neighborhood clowns with suspicion: St. Louis Police say they have all three dudes in custody, thanks in part to the perps' laughably stupid behavior.

Apparently, the bandits stuck up the restaurant, then fled with a backpack full of cash. Upon fleeing, however, one of these criminal masterminds dropped the backpack.
After apprehending two of the robbers on the scene, the cops found the backpack in a nearby alley.

And, a few hours later, that's exactly where they found the third suspect, who was actually stupid enough to return to the scene looking for his lost loot.

Seriously.

All three men are now in custody, according to ksdk.com. And while St. Louis Metropolitan Police Spokeswoman Erica S. Van Ross says that it's too soon to release names or mugshots, she did have some good news for any St. Louisans suffering from Coulophobia: Despite early reports, the masked suspect wasn't really a clown. In fact, police now believe he wasn't even wearing a clown mask.

"It wasn't a clown mask actually," she explains. "It was a mask that partially covered the face, but not a clown mask."

We suspect that Del Taco employees merely were traumatized after one too many viewings of Poltergeist and confused the "partial" mask for the clown face of their nightmares.

Hey, it could happen to anyone...