A jewellery store in Canela, Brazil was the unfortunate site of an attempted robbery on Monday (May 25, 2020).

Teen in wheelchair attempted to rob jewellery store

However, the robber turned out to be a 19-year-old teenager in a wheelchair.

According to Brazilian news outlet Metropoles via Daily Mail, the teen was deaf and mute, and had cerebral palsy, which meant that he was unable to move his hands.

Instead, he attempted to hold the store employee at "gunpoint" using his feet.

The gun he was using to threaten the staff was fake as well - it was a toy gun made of plastic.

He also passed the staff a threatening note, which read "Hand over everything. Don't raise attention," scribbled in Portuguese.

Store employee thought teen was begging for money

The staff told authorities that he initially thought the teen was begging for money.

One of the customers in the store had already given the boy some money while he was hanging around in the store for about 10 minutes.

The employee added that he felt sympathy for the teen, before he was handed the robbery note.

He also thought it was a joke until the perpetrator pulled out the gun, which he thought was real.

A person nearby managed to call the police, who arrived to arrest the teen. A family member of the teen was given permission to assist officers questioning him at the precinct due to his disability.

However, he was later released from custody as it was deemed an "impossible crime to be committed", considering the physical condition of the boy and his ability to escape from the scene of crime.

An investigation was initiated into the failed robbery.

Top image via TvM/YouTube