A Midtown con man faces a possible life sentence after being convicted of attempted armed robbery for pulling a carpet knife on a Swedish Navy official after a botched scam. Louis Parson was found guilty of his fourth violent offense for taking out the blade after trying the "broken bottle scam" (which is similar to the "broken glasses scam"). He faces between 16 years and life behind bars.
Parson, 41, bumped into Palm and his elderly father on Sixth Avenue outside their hotel last year and dropped a bag of bottles on the ground. He then demanded the tourists pay him $40 for spilling his booze, the Post reports. Palm refused, and Parson—who was reportedly drunk at the time—pulled a carpet knife. That's when a pair of undercover cops who witnessed the altercation cuffed Parson.
A juror told the tabloid that deliberations were "pretty quick and pretty straight forward." He said he didn't trust Parson's claims that he took out the carpet knife in self defense after the Navy commander tried to punch him. Parson also admitted in court he has done the bottle scam "hundreds of times."
