Two masked men mistakenly held up a Baltimore bar where, coincidentally, a police retirement party was being held.
The armed robbery occurred on Tuesday at Monaghan’s Pub in unincorporated Woodlawn in Baltimore County.
Joseph McInnis III, 21, and Tyree McCoy, 22, entered Monaghan’s with the intent of robbing the cash register and possibly causing bodily harm if anyone resisted.
The robbers didn’t notice a group of off-duty police officers who had gathered to celebrate a sergeant’s retirement.
Monaghan’s owner Jack Milani said the clueless armed robbers demanded cash from the register then fled. An employee interrupted the party to alert the officers that they had just been robbed.
A few of the younger officers gave chase and caught up to McInnis and McCoy outside the pub. McInnis and McCoy resisted arrest and the officers were forced to subdue them with closed fists and steel toe boots.
The robbers were treated for non-life threatening injuries. According to UK’s Daily Mail, both men face armed robbery, theft and other charges.
Monaghan’s Pub owner says the robbers must not have noticed the police precinct right across the street, where squad cars come and go during shift changes. The pub is a well-known police hangout — even when they aren’t holding retirement celebrations.
“It’s kind of odd you would even attempt [a robbery],” Milani told the Daily Mail. “Officers are always in here. There was a decent amount of them.”
