Lyons man charged in attempted store scam

A man who allegedly concocted a storyabout being robbed at knifepoint in an effort to getmoney from a store clerk was arrested by villagepolice Sunday night.Raymond Hauser, 31, of 31 Rice St., was charged with first-degree attempted robbery. He was arraignedin village court and sent to the Wayne County Jail on$10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond. Lyons Police ChiefRichard Bogan said just before 9 p.m. Friday, hisofficers responded to the Pick-A-Flick video store onForgham Street for a report of an attempted robbery.The clerk told police and Wayne County deputies that a man entered the store claiming he had beenaccosted by another person armed with a knife andordered to get $60 or both he and the clerk would bestabbed. The clerk called 911 and gave a meticulous description of the man in the store, as well as details of the alleged the knife wielder outside, but police wereunable to find anyone in the area matching thosedescriptions.By interviewing people in the area, however, policelearned the man in the video store had been inanother business earlier, and that store supplied avideo resulting in Hauser being identified. Bogan said on Sunday night about 7:30 p.m., Lyons police found Hauser in the village, and he admitted he had not beenaccosted outside the store but had fabricated the storybecause he “needed money” but “did not have the heart just to go in and get rough” with the clerk.Hauser is to appear in village court Wednesday toanswer the charge.Bogan said his department has reason to believeHauser may have tried this scam before. Anyone whowas a victim of a similar incident is asked to call theLyons police at 946-4151. Hauser also is known tohave frequented other communities over the past severalmonths, Bogan added.