Photo: Media Bakery

A North Carolina teen who attempted to rob a store by holding a banana under his shirt and pretending it was a gun faces armed robbery charges. The problem for prosecutors: the evidence gave them the slip.

It seems that while the kid was being held by the store owner before the cops arrived, he took the opportunity to chow down the incriminating fruit. It's a version of the spy novel cliche where the secret agent swallows the paper containing his instructions before the enemy can get at them — except a banana tastes better.

Why wouldn't you “disarm” a hood who used a banana as a prop? Well, we'll cut the store owner some slack on this one. After all, he's hardly a law enforcement professional or an expert on the rules of evidence, And let's not forget, for a moment there, he must have believed the kid had a real gun. So imagine his relief when he discovered the banana. In our book, he was heroic enough just to fight back.

Now, let's see what the D.A. can do with the “Case of the Missing Banana”.