Two men accused of unusual Payless Shoe robbery

Let's start with the Tribune:

Joshua Bradley and Brian Brittnum, both 23 and of the 8200 block of South Throop Street, have been charged with two counts each of armed robbery in connection with the Tuesday night holdup at the Payless Shoe Source in the East Chatham neighborhood.

The men, wearing ski masks, walked into the Payless, 8552 S. Cottage Grove, about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and held it up with a fake gun that police described as a drill wrapped in duct tape. Police said the two were given an undisclosed amount of money and fled.

As the pair made their escape, one of the people in the store was able to get the license plate number of their vehicle. Police traced the plate number to a residence in the 8300 block of South Ingleside Avenue.

Soon thereafter when police went to the residence, the girlfriend of one of the suspects answered the door, police said. The girlfriend, to whom the vehicle was registered, gave police permission to search the residence, and Bradley and Brittnum were found in a back room, police said.

Then more from the Southtown:

Surveillance video from Payless Shoe Source, 8552 S. Cottage Grove Ave., shows two robbers enter the store about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and display something that looks like a gun. It turned out to be a staple gun or wrench covered with duct tape, authorities said.

Police said the video showed a bizarre scene.

"This one kid comes into the store, he realized he forgot to pull the ski mask down so he pulled it down real quick -- so the eye holes were off, causing him to begin stumbling around" before adjusting it, a police source said.

And a customer talked on her cell phone during the entire robbery -- didn't even move -- and walked out after purchasing shoes while still on her cell phone, the source said.

So where is that TV program about dumb criminals again?