DA: Fake gun used for real robbery in Revere

By adamg - 5/12/09 - 4:53 pm

A Revere man is charged with using a toy gun to hold up the Revere Sons of Italy on Revere Street yesterday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office (Ed. question: What's the deal with toy guns all of a sudden?).

James Parker, 48, had bail set at $100,000, but even if he could raise the money, he isn't going anywhere because a Chelsea District Court judge revoked his bail on an unrelated charge.

Prosecutors say Parker entered the club around noon wearing a mask and holding what appeared to be an automatic weapon. He ordered the bartender to give him all the money in the joint - and the keys to the club's poker machines. According to a statement:

At about this time, a 71-year-old male entered the bar and, realizing that there was a robbery in progress, asked everyone to remain calm and told the bartender to get Parker a drink. The defendant allegedly demanded a Skyy Vodka, but when the bartender told him that she did not have that brand of vodka, he took a bottle of Absolut Vodka and a bottle of Dewars Scotch. Parker is also said to have ordered the bartender to get the 71-year-old the drink of his choice.

But Parker's mood allegedly soured when police arrived - after the bartender managed to secretly call them on a cell phone. He is charged with putting his Samaritan in a headlock and walking outside with the gun pointed at his head. One officer managed to grab the gun - at which point police realized it was not real, the DA's office says.

Parker was then charged with four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault on a person over age 60, one count of kidnapping, one count of armed and masked robbery and one count of resisting arrest.

Innocent, etc.