Ithaca, N.Y. — Employees of Ithaca’s Taste of Thai Express on South Meadow Street were robbed at knife-point Tuesday night, according to police.
Peter Bennedum has been charged with third-degree robbery and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Police say Bennedum, 34, entered the store with a knife around 8:35 p.m. and pointed it at the cashier while demanding all the money from the register.
When the cashier refused, Bennedum instead took a tip jar, according to police.
But “another employee snatched the tip jar from the suspect’s hands before the suspect could leave with it,” Officer Jamie Williamson said in a news release.
The Taste of Thai Express staff then called police and gave them a description of the suspect.
Officers found Bennedum a few blocks from the restaurant. He is in jail. Bail has been set at $5,000.
Bennedum is homeless, police said.
