The man behind one of Houston’s most awkward attempted robberies has been arrested, months after the botched crime was caught on camera.
Houston police say 29-year-old Jose Maria Torres is now charged with aggravated robbery in connection to the Jan. 12, 2025, hold-up at a convenience store in the 1300 block of Federal.
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OUR FIRST REPORT: Clumsy robber fumbles gun, slips and falls during attempted armed robbery at Houston convenience store
What happened?
The Houston Police Department’s Robbery Division first asked for the public’s help to identify a man responsible for an awkward aggravated in April.
Surveillance video from the incident shows a man trying to pull a handgun from his waistband, only to fumble it into his pants and fall to the ground. Once he recovered the weapon, the suspect approached the store clerk, fired a round inside the store, grabbed a case of beer from the cooler, and ran off — possibly in a white truck.
The crime happened on Jan. 12 at around 3 p.m. at a convenience store located in the 1300 block of Federal Road.
Somehow still committed to going through with the robbery, the man approached the counter and attempted to rob the clerk at gunpoint.
When the employee didn’t cooperate, he fired his weapon at a box of sodas on the floor near him, causing bubbly liquid to splash on the floor. Still not getting his way, the man retrieved the empty shell casing from the round he fired, grabbed a box of beer, and left the store.
