Cody Phillip Gintz Accused Of Robbing Girl Scouts To Feed His Heroin Habit

Man Accused Of Robbing Girl Scouts To Feed His Heroin Habit

A man who says he was trying to get cash to pay for drugs allegedly robbed a Girl Scout troop on Sunday as they sold cookies outside a supermarket in San Jose, California.

Cody Phillip Gintz, 23, is accused of grabbing the troop's cash box, which contained $600, from a table outside of a Safeway.

At first, a 10-year-old Girl Scout tried to hold onto the cash box, but let go after a brief struggle, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

As the suspect drove away, one of the Girl Scouts managed to take down the license plate number of his Ford Bronco and called police, CBS San Francisco reported.

Just moments later, rookie police officer Joseph Ferrante spotted the robbery suspect's vehicle and, with the help of backup, pulled it over in a "high-risk felony car stop."

Gintz was arrested and charged with strong arm robbery. In a jailhouse interview to NBC Bay Area, he admitted to stealing the money to buy drugs.

"Normally, I would never try this," Gintz said. "But I was desperate, so I tried."

The Girl Scouts were selling the cookies to raise money for a water conservation service project. In response to their plight, the police officers not only returned the stolen money, but bought an additional $240 in cookies and donated $60 in cash to the troop, the Mercury News reported.

"It was a great gesture on the part of the officers and a really traumatic experience for the Girl Scout troop," Officer Albert Morales, a police spokesman, told the newspaper. "Hopefully they're recovering and it doesn't have a lasting effect."

Gintz, whose little sister was once in the Girl Scouts, said he wanted to apologize.

"I definitely feel bad about it," Gintz told NBC Bay Area. "I would definitely tell them I'm sorry."

Before You Go

"Young L.A. Girl Slain; Body Slashed in Two" ― L.A.'s Daily News

10 Major Crimes That Shocked the Nation (SLIDESHOW)

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