Young men involved in robbing a St. Paul business got away with a pile of cash, but left behind their contact information and something else: A mold of teeth.

The robbery at Eastside Grillz on Arcade Street at Cook Avenue happened after an employee took an imprint of one of the men’s mouth to make a grill — gold jewelry worn over teeth.

Six to seven young men, estimated to be 17 to 20 years old, were in the store Wednesday about 1:35 p.m. and the employee said he began to feel they were trying to distract him, according to Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. The worker noticed a drawer was open and two envelopes that contained about $500 between them were missing.

The worker took out two other envelopes that contained about $755 to try to safeguard them and confronted the group about the missing envelopes, Ernster said. But one male snatched the envelopes from the worker and they all ran away, leaving in two vehicles.

One of the fleeing vehicles struck another car and kept going. No one was injured, Ernster said.

When police arrived, the Eastside Grillz employee told police he had a valuable piece of evidence — he had used a putty substance to make a mold of the teeth of one of the males in the group.

“This robbery affects me as a business owner, as this is money that I have to replace out of my own pocket and it’s unfortunate we live in a time where people feel the need to take what they want instead of work hard and earn what they want,” said Kari Schill, who owns Eastside Grillz. “I do hope my employee’s witty thinking will help the police capture these thieves.”

Schill said she doesn’t believe the suspects thought through the robbery.

That’s because not only did one person in the group leave his teeth imprint, which police could use to match to him, but he also provided contact information for the grill he was ordering Wednesday. Another male in the group was picking up a grill he already ordered and had previously left his contact information, Schill said.

Mouth grills run from $200 for simple gold to several thousand dollars if they include diamonds and other customization, Schill said.

Police said the robbery remains under investigation. They later found the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run — with no one inside — a few blocks away at Magnolia Avenue and Forest Street, Ernster said.