Escondido

A robber used a hand grenade to hold up a check-cashing store in Escondido, police said.

About 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, a man walked into the Century Check Cashier in the 600 block of N. Broadway and confronted a clerk with a hand grenade, Lt. Paul Stotesbury said. The man passed the clerk a note which stated, “Give me all the large bills or I’ll pull the pin. Boom.”

The robber then held the grenade in one hand and the pin in his other hand, Stotesbury said. The clerk gave an undisclosed amount of money to the robber, who fled on foot. The robber was described as a white male, 23 to 24 years old, 5 foot 6 inches tall, with black, slicked-back hair and a mustache, Stotesbury said. He was wearing dark glasses, jeans and a black jacket during the robbery.