A troop of Girl Scouts was selling cookies outside of a San Jose grocery store when a man approached and allegedly stole the cash box.
Cody Gintz, 23, was arrested Sunday afternoon for strong-arm robbery after witnesses said they saw him take off with the Scouts’ cash box, which held $600 inside, according to NBC Bay Area.
The Girl Scouts were reportedly selling cookies to help raise money for a water conservation project outside the Branham Lane Safeway Sunday afternoon when Gintz approached and made off with their proceeds.
“He’s looking around, looking at the cookies, and I keep my hands on the box,” ten-year-old Scout Sophia Contos told NBC. “And (he starts) to pull away and all of a sudden he goes for it. I jerk it away, but then he’s like too strong, so he gets it.”
Police were able to apprehend Gintz after he returned to the parking lot ten minutes later and sped off in his car. Witnesses took down his license plate number and the police caught up with him shortly afterward.
Gintz was reportedly found with $300 on his person, and told police he had thrown the cash box in a creek. The cash box was later retrieved by a K-9 unit.
After securing Gintz, police returned to the parking lot and gave the Girl Scouts the money they had recovered. Officers reportedly bought $240 worth of cookies from the troop and chipped in an extra $60 to cover the loss.
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