Robbery at Subway restaurant goes awry after suspect demands 'all the bread,' confusing cashier

A suspect in Chicago thwarted his own robbery attempt last week after he confused a Subway restaurant employee by demanding the employee give him "all the bread."

Last Wednesday evening, Abail Bekele, 20, allegedly walked into two Subway stores in Chicago, looking for a quick money-grab. According to reports, at around 9:25 p.m., he entered a shop on North Broadway and demanded that the person behind the register give him all the money in it or he would shoot. The cashier believed the threat and handed over the money.

Bekele left and then headed for a store on North Sheridan Road, just a few blocks north of Wrigley Field. He arrived around 10 p.m. and supposedly addressed the cashier standing behind the counter of that Subway store just as he had done before — only this time, he used the wrong turn of phrase.

According to reports, Bekele demanded that the cashier give him "all the bread." "Bread" is a common slang term for "money," so the suspect may have believed he had made his demand clear. However, in a sub shop which in some cases offers more than a dozen bread options — including jalapeno cheese, 9-grain honey oat, multi-grain flatbread, and rye — a request for "bread" could certainly be understood in at least two different ways. According to Assistant State’s Attorney Domenica Devitt, the cashier responded to Bekele by asking him to clarify which kind of "bread" he wanted.

At that point, Bekele allegedly stated emphatically that he wanted money and gestured toward his waistband, where the cashier believed he spotted the handle of a gun. The cashier then quickly slammed the register shut and bolted to the back of the store for safety. The suspect eventually left the store with no more money than he had when he walked in.

About a half-hour later, Bekele was spotted wearing "exactly" the same clothing as the suspect captured on store surveillance footage and was arrested by police, Devitt said. Bekele was charged with armed robbery with a firearm, aggravated robbery indicating a firearm, and attempted robbery indicating a firearm.

Bekele has also been implicated in another robbery which occurred last month. Shortly before 2 a.m. on April 26, police allegedly found him inside a wireless store. The store's door had been broken, and Bekele was supposedly inside with several phone cases and broken dummy phones on his person as well as three IDs which belonged to other individuals. Bekele admitted that he had stolen the IDs from a nearby Xsport store, police claimed. He was out on $500 bail when he allegedly attempted to rob the Subway stores.

Bekele is now being held without bail. During a hearing on Thursday, his public defender shared with the court that his client had upcoming job interviews with three different fast-food restaurants

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