A man tried to rob a Bay Minette-area store this weekend with a toy gun but was chased off by a worker wielding a cricket bat, Baldwin County investigators said.

A man entered Bee Gee's gas station and store on U.S. 31 in the Pine Grove community Saturday afternoon and tried to steal money using a toy gun, Baldwin County authorities said.

 

"After noticing that the suspect's gun had an orange tip at the end of the barrel, the employee grabbed a cricket bat and the suspect ... fled the store without getting any money," said Cpl. Mike Gaull of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office.

Justin Blake Sims, 22, of Bay Minette, was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery. He was being held tonight in the Baldwin County Corrections Center on $25,000 bail, a jail worker said.