Times staff
Sunday, September 26, 2010
LARGO — A man authorities said robbed a store and then taunted officers was shot and killed outside his home Saturday night.
Robert Hayes Roll, 56, of near Clearwater was shot in his driveway by police after threatening that he was "armed and loaded," the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said that Roll had pointed an object at the officers — which later turned out to be a wallet with a chain wrapped around it, authorities said.
The episode began around 9 p.m. when a man attempted to rob a Walgreens at Starkey Road and East Bay Drive in Largo. An employee foiled the robbery, and the suspect fled.
While Largo police were investigating, a caller to 911 said he was the robber, and told police to come to his home and get him, the Sheriff's Office said.
Largo police went there, to 1636 Chateau Drive N near Clearwater, about a mile north of the Walgreens. They notified the Sheriff's Office since the home is in unincorporated Pinellas.
The officers told Roll to come out of his house with his hands in clear sight, but the Sheriff's Office said he ignored the commands and threatened the officers verbally and with the dark object instead.
The officers opened fire, and Roll died at the scene, the Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities identified the Largo police officers involved as Amanda Gay, Jorge Almeda and Adam Compton.
The Sheriff's Office and the state attorney are investigating the shooting.
Jail records list Roll as 6 feet 4 inches tall. He has a record of drunken driving, but no violent crimes, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.
He was arrested on DUI charges in Pinellas County in 1978, 1982 and 1997, records show. He pleaded no contest and served probation. He also was jailed for six months in 1980 for a burglary in Dunedin, records show.