Sometimes the best way to deal with a criminal is to just play dumb.

According to a police report, a man walked into the Seattle's Best Coffee on 2nd and Cherry  on January 20th and handed a cashier a note written on a scantron sheet, which read "cash in register."

The cashier was apparently confused by the man's note and began talking with the man. The man walked to another cashier and passed another note—this time written on a lotto ticket—demanding cash from the register.

The report says the second cashier "acted confused" and the man motioned to the note once more before he placed it in his pocket and asked for a coffee. The cashier rang the man up and requested money, but the man patted his pockets and said he didn't have any. He told the cashier he would return later, and left.

The man—described in the report as a white male 5'9-6'0, medium build, scruffy beard, wearing a white jacket and dirty jeans—never pulled a weapon or made any threats, and apparently did not return to the coffee shop.