Cold crook holds up ABQ ice cream truck

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Think of an ice cream truck and your mind might go to Klondike bars or the catchy jingle.

One would-be robber saw only dollar signs.

Ice cream truck driver Daniel Trujillo was driving on his route near Gibson Blvd and Dakota Street Friday afternoon when an older man with a cane flagged him down, a very curious customer.

"He asked me, 'How much money did you make today?'" Trujillo said. "I said, 'Thank God, I made a little bit, it's been fairly decent."

According to a criminal complaint, that's when the man, identified by police as Ted Rael, 52, told Trujillo he had a gun and wanted all of the ice cream man's money. Trujillo refused and when the man started reaching into his jacket, Trujillo hopped behind the wheel and tried to drive away.

"The gentleman grabbed onto my truck trying to open my door," Trujillo said.

APD says Rael gave up and ran back into his nearby apartment telling a neighbor along the way, "don't tell the ice cream man where I live."

Officers tracked down Rael and arrested him for Attempt to Commit a Third Degree Felony.

According to online court records, Rael has a lengthy criminal past including a string of shoplifting, burglary and DWI charges.

Trujillo says this isn't the first time he's been held up driving his southeast Albuquerque route. He says another man drew a gun on him in June but that he didn't have any money to give to the robber.

"Not in my life I would think driving an ice cream truck you would have to worry about someone coming and robbing you," Trujillo said. "Get a job, get a life! There's better things in life to do than try to rob an ice cream man."