This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man carrying what at first appeared to be a handgun grabbed a case of beer from a Salt Lake City convenience store's cooler and approached the clerk.
Then, things got weird at the 7-Eleven store near 1400 West and Indiana Avenue (850 South).
Salt Lake City police say the man then laid the gun, which turned out to be a black-and-clear-plastic toy, on the counter. Apparently as an afterthought, he also added his blue baseball cap to sweeten the swap.
"There you go," he said, and walked out with brew under his arm.
The suspect — described as a 5-foot-6 white or Latino man with short brown hair, about 140 pounds, in his mid-30s and wearing blank pants and a blue sweatshirt with "Michigan" emblazoned in yellow on the back — was last seen walking northbound across Indiana Avenue about 11 p.m. Thursday
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call police at 801-799-3000.