Man With Underwear On His Head Robs Store

A man wearing a pair of blush-colored bikini underpants on his head robbed a grocery store, police say.

Police caught up with the man near his home a short time later and gingerly recovered the dirty briefs from one of his pockets.

They arrested and jailed 28-year-old Richard Lee Hamrick of Longview on suspicion of robbery with bail at $75,000.

The robber “had the underwear on backwards with holes cut out for the eyes” when he went into a Safeway store about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, Detective Mike Rabideau said.

“He stated he had a gun in his shirt,” the detective said, “and he pointed to a bulge in his shirt in the front torso area.”

The man got some money - Rabideau would not say how much - and then fled on foot. Employees followed at a safe distance and pointed him out to officers upon their arrival. Police chased the man a few blocks until he tripped and fell.

After being arrested, “he was rather apologetic … and confessed completely,” Rabideau said. He added the man and his girlfriend were trying to live on a small amount of money and the man needed to supplement their income.