[sculker]

DELAND, Fla. -- A Central Florida man armed only with a large palm frond robbed a store in a crime described by police as one of the most bizarre they've ever seen.

IMAGES: Man Armed With Palm Frond

Police said Gelando Olivieri attempted to rob the V&F Discount Beverage store in DeLand by threatening harm with a spiked Spanish bayonet, a palmetto-like plant with sharp points on its leaves. "The man came in with the branch. I have never seen anything like this," owner Goutam Sarkar told the DeLand-Deltona Beacon Thursday.

Surveillance video showed Olivieri wildly waving the palm frond in front of a worker's face.

Investigators said Olivieri threatened to use the leaves to stab if he wasn't given $50.

"(The plant) was sharp," Sarkar said.

Before any money was exchanged, Oliveiri was chased out of the store by a man armed with a bar stool.

Oliveri was arrested a short time after the crime and charged with armed robbery.

A police official said the leaves of the Spanish bayonet are like knives and that people often plant them under windows to stop break-ins.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

* Video: Bandit Uses Palm Frond Used As Weapon In Store Robbery, Police Say

http://www.local6.com/news/16654677/detail.html

[fapprez]

Ok. You caught my attention. First let me say that not only are the bayonets sharp, the sting like a bugger as well. I still wouldn't have given him the dough. You should seriously rethink your criminal career when you are run off by a guy with a bar school because he "Out Guns" you.

[c3shooter]

Merely reaffirms my belief in the need to outlaw Assualt Plants!

[ScottG]

will those things fit on my M1?

[c3shooter]

Scott- only if your M1 was made in Spain.

[Zappa]

It only proves once again that nearly ANYTHING can be used as a weapon in the hands of someone hell-bent on doing harm to another. I remember a case last year where a woman beat her boyfriend to death with an IPOD because he erased her MP3 collection.