When Tryon finally emerged, the two victim-witnesses positively identified him as the man who had stolen their lemonade money. Initially, police took Tryon to the Vigo County Juvenile Justice Center, where he continued to claim he was 16.

When he finally admitted he was 18, police asked Tryon why he lied, and he told them that he had been scared.

According to Terre Haute Police Detective Starla Neidigh, Tryon continued to apologize and said he “just wanted to make things right.”

Neidigh also said Tryon told police his friends pressured him to steal the money, saying, “I’m the kind of guy, if somebody tells me to do something, I do it.”

Neidigh said later, “No matter whether there’s peer pressure, there’s right and there’s wrong … he did it because he needed cigarettes.”

Tryon’s only criminal record is a juvenile matter involving fighting at school, and that matter has been resolved, according to authorities.

Judge Dexter Bolin, sitting in for Judge Michael Lewis in Vigo County Superior Court Division 6, gave Tryon a bail of $50,000 with 10 percent allowed.