[There was a video here]

How badly did Gumby screw up his attempted robbery of a San Diego 7-11? Well, really badly: Not only did he not, in fact, steal anything, he actually gave money to the clerk.

As you can see in the above surveillance video, Gumby enters the store, hands held high, "telling the clerk he is being robbed" and "demand[ing] a pack of cigarettes and cash." Good robbery form so far! And then:

The flexible suspect then tried to pull out what he said was a gun from his costume. Apparently flustered, Gumby dropped 27 cents on the floor and left the convenience store empty-handed.

Police say the clerk thought the robbery was a joke and pocketed the spare change.

In fact, Gumby botched his hold-up so badly the clerk didn't even realize it was a robbery, and the crime wasn't reported to the cops until the 7-11 manager saw the surveillance tape "hours later." Gumby! We love the concept, but you may want to be in a different line of work. Like philanthropy, maybe.

[CBS San Diego]