Florida cop disguised as shrub nabs bad guys .
MIAMI 1996-08-29
It was a bush that bagged the bad guys .
When four would-be robbers , armed and masked , showed up to rob a Checker 's restaurant in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Pembroke Pines on Tuesday , they had no idea the shrub near the drive-through window was toting a shotgun .
Detective Earl Feugill , camouflaged as a shaggy green bush , ordered them to freeze . "
They were quite surprised , " he told the Miami Herald .
Feugill said he made the hot , heavy suit , which he first used in the Marines , by attaching strips of burlap to a camouflage outfit .
Green and black face paint completed his disguise .
He was staking out the restaurant after a series of robberies at local fast-food places .
Pembroke Pines police said five people were arrested as a result of the 90-minute stakeout , including the four robbers and a restaurant employee who was allegedly prepared to let them in a back door .