Tourist charged with armed robbery after stealing cannoli

BOSTON (WHDH) -- A man from Ireland vacationing in Boston has been charged with armed robbery after he allegedly stole a cannoli from a bakery in the North End.

The Irishman was arraigned Thursday in Boston Municipal Court.

The ordeal was caught on surveillance camera. The man can be seen entering Bova's Bakery after 3:30 Thursday morning with a kitchen knife in his hand.

“I said, ‘What are you looking for?’ He went, ‘Shh,’ and I says, ‘What are you looking for?’” said Philip Laferla, Bova’s Bakery employee.

Instead, he found something better in the glass pastry case.

“He wanted a cannoli on the house,” said Vicki Bova Kluse

“He comes in and goes, ‘Give me a couple cannolis,’ so I gave him the cannolis,” Laferla said.

The employee handed it over, and the intruder can be seen taking a bite of one on his way out.

Police later arrested Robert McTernan at the bakery; an Irish tourist, who had arrived in Boston hours earlier for a two-week vacation.

Locals agree he picked the right place for a taste of the North End.

“They're delicious,” one man said.

“They have the best cannolis in the North End. No not worth stealing,” said Paul Ciano.

As for Bova's, they're proud of their pastries, but they only want to see knives in the kitchen.

The employees still don’t know what the man was looking for.

McTernan had to surrender his Irish passport. He is due in court next week.