MORRISVILLE, Pa. — A homeless cook who robbed a smoke shop last year while stressing out over his drug habit is going to prison for six to 12 years, officials said.
Auprel McLean, 32, robbed the Puff & Stuff shop in the 100 block of West Bridge Street on Sept. 10 while holding a butcher knife. With a white bandanna over his face, he demanded “give me all of the cash,” officials said.
Auprel McLean
McLean fled the store with $1,610 and Morrisville police officers arrested him two days later at his nearby apartment. He still had $977 of the stolen money, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a Monday statement.
Despite shielding his face, the cashier recognized McLean because he’d been in the store about 90 minutes earlier and had bought a cigar. The employee later identified him in a police photo lineup, the statement said
McLean pleaded guilty to robbery, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime as part of a plea deal. He also has to repay the remaining $633 as restitution on top of the prison sentence, handed down Monday.
In court, McLean said he would use the time behind bars to become “a better decision-maker (and) learn from my mistakes,” the statement said.
The father of three children ages 9 to 12 blamed the robbery on stress and drug abuse, saying he was addicted to benzodiazepine and Percocet at the time, the statement said. McLean said he was homeless last fall and worked as a cook when he was drug-free.
It was his second armed robbery this decade in which he used cutlery, the district attorney’s statement said. In 2010, McLean used a knife to rob a Chinese food deliveryman in Bristol Township and was sentenced to two to four years in prison, the office said.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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