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Food

Florida Bar Patrons Continue Drinking as Armed Robbery Unfolds

When you need a drink, you need a drink.
Photo via Flickr user Yelp.com

Sure, plenty of people go to a bar to check out from their worldly woes, but this is ridiculous.

Last Sunday, two armed robbers—one wielding a shotgun, the other a rifle—ran into Memories Lounge in Sarasota, Florida and began to rob the place, all while bar-goers continued to drink and chat amongst one another, completely oblivious of—or at least not concerned by—the armed crime taking place right in front of them.

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Sarasota Police Department have since released surveillance footage from the bar, which shows two hooded men shoving unwitting patrons out of the way before making their way behind the bar. The footage then shows the thieves walking the bartender—who actually has his hands up, thanks to the rifle pointed at his side—over to the register. Meanwhile, not one of the patrons seems to notice the robbery taking place right before them.

Typical bar-like revelry continues.

"There were people asking for drinks whilst it was going on," explained the bar's owner, Stephen Acker. He told WFLA News, "One of the bartenders came up to me and said, 'We're being robbed. Don't do anything, just give them the money from the register." Acker complied and emptied the contents of the register. The thieves then fled with the cash and a couple of bottles of booze. "He got a Courvoisier and a B&B," Acker said. The patrons? Still drinking and chatting away.

You've got to hand it to them. There are some barflies in Sarasota who really know how to chill.