UNIONTOWN, Pa., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Police in Pennsylvania said a suspect's story about being forced into a robbery unraveled when a toilet paper note was matched to a roll of tissue in his home.

Uniontown Police said Eric W. Frey, 29, walked into Michael Maria's Pizza at 7:39 p.m. Dec. 27 and handed an employee a sheet of toilet paper with a handwritten message, "I have a gun. Give me $300."


The police report said Frey told another worker there was a man with "a gun on me right now, and if I don't come out of here with the money, I'm going to get shot."

One of the workers hit a panic button and Frey, who was still inside the eatery when police arrived, told police he was forced to commit the robbery by a large, bearded man who cornered him in a nearby alley and held a gun to his back.

Lt. Tom Kolencik wrote in the arrest report Frey consented to a search of his apartment and officers discovered a package of toilet paper on his table. One of the rolls had "writing engraved in it that matched the exact wording on the piece of toilet paper that Frey handed" to the worker, the police report said.

Police said Frey attempted to change his story and said the man confronted him in his apartment. He "then noticed three males walking on Jefferson Street, and stated, 'That's them.'"

However, officers said they spoke to the men and determined they were not involved in the crime. Police said they obtained a search warrant and found 91 grams of marijuana in the apartment along with syringes and spoons bearing drug residue.

Frey was arrested and jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond.