A perk of military service — patriotic criminals

If it wasn’t in a news story, I’d actually think that this was an O. Henry story, because the ending is such a twist.  You see, it all started when a young man, walking down a dark street at night was mugged and robbed at gunpoint:

A Milwaukee Army reservist’s military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.

The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student said he was walking home from work about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when he was pulled into an alley and told to lay face down and with a gun to his neck. Four men took his wallet, $16, keys, his cell phone and even a PowerBar wrapper from his pants pockets, he said.

But the hostile tone quickly changed when one of the robbers, whom the reservist presumed was the leader, saw an Army ID in the wallet. The robber told the others to return the items and they put most of his belongings on the ground next to him, including the wrapper, the reservist said.

“The guy continued to say throughout the situation that he respects what I do and at one point he actually thanked me and he actually apologized,” said the reservist, who asked not to be identified Tuesday because the robbers still had his keys.

The reservist said he asked the men, who all had hoods or hats covering their faces, if he could get up and they said he could before starting to walk away.

“The leader of the group actually walked back, gave me a quick fist bump, which was very strange,” he said.

Lest one get too excited by this heartwarming story of criminals gone good, they apparently robbed another man at gunpoint and, unimpressed by his credentials, happily absconded with his valuables.

Hat tip:  Sadie