Boy, 12, arrested for carrying out armed robbery on gas station in Hartford Michigan

A youngster was caught on surveillance camera video holding up a Michigan gas station as he demanded the money from the cashier. 

Footage sees the skinny 12-year-old waiting calmly in line in the town of Hartford, with his hand in his backpack as a customer in front of him pay for gas. 

When he reaches the front of the line he whips out a pistol from his black bag and demands money. 

‘Put the money in the bag!’ the boys states calmly. The cashier appears incredulous at the request initially and asks him, ‘Are you serious?’ 

A 12-year-old boy can be seen waiting calmly in line before carrying out the holdup

The boy pulls out a handgun on the female cashier, Jessica, working behind the counter

To ensure she sees his request as legitimate the boy fires a round into the ceiling. 

The woman behind the counter flinches but then pulls out a bag of money from the safe and quickly hands it over to the kid, ordering him to ‘Get out!’ 

As the boy leaves he attempts to reload his gun but it jams. One of the shell casings can be seen falling to the floor. 

The child then calmly walks out as if nothing had happened.

Just before 4pm on Wednesday, 911 dispatchers received the call about the armed robbery at the Marathon gas station on East Main Street – just one block from the police station. 

The boy was promptly picked up by cops minutes later. 

Hartford Police Chief Tressa Beltran picked him up without incident and charged with armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharge of a firearm in Van Buren County Family Court on Thursday.

The cashier flinches as she asks if the boy is really serious about his intentions

The youngster then fired a round directly into the ceiling 

Officers believe the child told another pupil at his school about his plan to carry out the armed robbery before fetching the weapon from his grandfather’s locked safe. 

The grandfather, who is the child’s legal guardian, told police he did not know that his grandson could access the safe.

A sign on his front door read: ‘No comment at this time, no pics. I have to live in this town and I need some sleep.’ 

The boy, who attends Hartford Middle School is currently in custody at the Allegan County Juvenile Center and will remain there until a hearing later this month. 

‘I thought he was a kid, not even 10 years old,’ the store clerk, called Jessica, told News Channel 3. 

The cashier pulls out a blue bag from the gas station’s safe containing cash and hands it over

The woman places the cash into the boy’s backpack and tells him to ‘Get out!’

‘He sounded way too calm. I seriously thought it was a prank until I heard the gun go off.

‘Part of me wanted to hold the kid because he has so many problems, then it’s hard to feel bad when he did something like this,’ Jessica said. 

‘I always thought if I were robbed I’m giving them the money, no amount of money is worth my life.’ 

Police say they were not given any motive by the boy as to why he carried out the robbery.

‘Every day I’m seeing something new at this job. I’ve been a full-time police officer for 38 years. What really flabbergasted me is that he showed no emotion,’ Hartford Lt. Mike Prince said.

‘He told us he didn’t do it for the money. He said he would’ve thrown the money into the sewer. He wouldn’t give us an explanation why he did it.’

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The holdup can be seen from another angle with the boy seen in the top left of the picture

The Marathon gas station is located just around the corner from a police station