Police: Teen suspected of trying to rob Wichita QuikTrip lives in neighborhood

The teenager suspected of attempting to rob a QuikTrip in south Wichita early Sunday with a paint scraper turned out to be a developmentally delayed 14-year-old male who lives in the neighborhood, police said Monday.

The teen walked into the convenience store at 1610 E. Lincoln at about 5 a.m. Sunday and asked for cigarettes, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said. He had no shirt, shoes nor socks on.

When the clerk at the store near Hydraulic asked for some identification, Espinoza said, the teen said, “This is a robbery. I won’t be needing ID.”

The clerk did not give the boy any money, instead staring him down until the 14-year-old fled.

“As the clerk reviewed some of the video, they recognized this young man has some disabilities mentally,” Espinoza said.

He also recognized that the teen lives in the neighborhood. Officers responding to the 911 call thought they recognized the teen and went to a house in the 700 block of South Greenwood. The teen’s mother was interviewed, Espinoza said.

QuikTrip officials do not want charges filed in the case, Espinoza said. The Kansas Department for Children and Families is “seeing what services they can provide for the young man,” he said.

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Police: Teen suspected of trying to rob Wichita QuikTrip lives in neighborhood."