Man robs Denver cupcake store with blood-filled syringe

DENVER -- Police are looking for a man, possibly a transient, who robbed a cupcake shop in downtown Denver armed with a syringe which he claimed was filled with HIV-tainted blood. The robbery happened at about 10 a.m. last Thursday at Gigi’s Cupcakes at 5th & Grant St.

Carissa, a manager, says she and another employee were in the back of the store when they heard someone come in through the front. Her co-worker, Katie, went to see who it was. “(The man) immediately grabbed her by the arm and kind of forced her into a corner,” Carissa says.

“He showed her the syringe. It was uncapped and (he said) it was full of his own AIDS blood. He said he was going to inject her if she didn’t open the register.” When Katie, who didn’t have access to the register, asked Carissa to help open it the man became agitated at their slow pace. “He just kept telling me to hurry,” Carissa says. Once the register was opened, the suspect grabbed approximately $300 in cash, and then left the store.

 Carissa says she was a little shocked and angry after the incident, but was quick to move on. “I had to work the next day so it was good to get back into the atmosphere.”