From http://www.tampabays10.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=43737&s=f

Little girl flashes knife as she tries to steal toys

Largo, Florida - Largo Police are looking for a little girl who pulled a knife on a Wal-Mart clerk as she tried to steal two boxes of Lego toy blocks.

It happened on the Missouri Avenue around 9:00 pm Tuesday night.

Police say the 7 to 8-year-old girl hid the toys under her coat and tried to walk out the door.

 A store employee was watching and approached the child, asking her to turn over the Lego blocks.

Police say the little girl then opened her jacket and displayed a combo carving knife with a forked point and a 10" blade, saying she was armed for protection.

The employee talked the girl into putting down the knife and the toys.

The girl then rode away on her bicycle.

The employee was not hurt.

 

I'm sure that toys are stolen by children all over the country every day.  This story of a 7 or 8-year-old girl using a knife to steal LEGOs (generally a boy's toy) just blows my mind.  Equally as baffling is that the kid got away on a BICYCLE!  Maybe the Wal-Mart employee was laughing too hard to give chase.  I can see why this story was classified under "Weird News".  OK, so let's get the rundown of the complete weirdness of this situation:

1. We have a girl who is only 7 or 8 going to Wal-Mart by herself (I assume she was alone since she got away on a bike, and the article doesn't mention anything about her parents being there.) at 9:00 PM.

2. This girl is stealing LEGOs instead of jewelry, CD's or clothes (common theft targets of girls).

3. The girl had a 10" knife ready to brandish against whoever tried to stop her.  I suppose that she could've impromptuly decided to steal the LEGOs and gotten the knife from the kitchen utensil aisle there in the Wal-Mart.  However, I imagine that she brought the knife from home, which means that the attempted theft was premeditated...by a girl who's only 7 or 8.

4. The girl is seen trying to leave without paying and confronted by an employee, who was surely an adult--and as we all know, adults can easily overcome little girls, both mentally and in melee combat, even if the little girl has a big knife.  And to top it off, when the girl flees from the employee, she does so on a bike.  The last time I checked, bikes made for girls age 7 to 8 were small, pink and designed to look cute as opposed to escaping from Wal-Mart into the 9:00 PM darkness of the night.

 

Maybe this girl's big brother tricked her into stealing LEGOs for him.  Maybe she was dirt poor and couldn't afford a Christmas present for her class' gift exchange.  Maybe it was a little elf gathering presents for Santa, and due to it's size it looked like a little girl.  Or maybe this world is just really F*%$#d up.

I make no claim that I either understand or can explain what happened in Largo, FL.  All I know is that if some 7 to 8-year-old girl shows up at my place with a measley 10" knife and thinks she's getting away with a single one of my bricks, she's got another thing comin'.

David