|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Alleged robber gets down to bare facts
Article published on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007 |
BELLEAIR BEACH – A North Carolina man was arrested Jan. 25 after police say he attempted to take a telephone from a Verizon employee and then stripped off his clothes before diving into the Gulf of Mexico in a bid to escape from police.
Charles T. Hilldreth IV, 24, of Fayetteville, N.C., was transported to the Pinellas County Jail after deputies fished him out of the water. He is charged with strong armed robbery, resisting arrest without violence, two counts of resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Pinellas County deputies said the chain of events began about 2:40 p.m. when the suspect allegedly tried to take a $400 test phone from a Verizon employee who was working on a junction box on Gulf Boulevard near the Belleair Beach Causeway.
Deputies said the victim fought off the suspect who then fled. A Belleair Beach officer spotted Hilldreth several minutes later. The suspect again fled on foot and eluded both local police and deputies.
The foot chase ended at the Morgan Drive Beach Access where Hilldreth allegedly stripped off his clothing and jumped into the water. A deputy unsuccessfully tried to subdue the suspect with a Taser.
A sheriff’s office helicopter and a marine unit responded to the area. Deputies in a boat pulled Hilldreth out of the water, but not before the suspect fought with deputies and bit one of them on the chest.
|
Article published on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007
Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Tampa Bay Newspapers
9911 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 397-5563
Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
|
|
