By Andy Boyle, Times Staff Writer
Friday, September 3, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — Police detectives staking out a convenience store early Friday watched as an ex-convict walked in with a towel on his face and a gun in his pocket, authorities said.
The man, identified as Jackie Allen Randall, 28, of Pinellas Park, is a suspect in 10 convenience store robberies throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, police said.
St. Petersburg police detectives, who had received a tip that Randall planned to rob the Circle K at 4860 62nd Ave. N, were waiting for him. He had been under surveillance because they believed he was a suspect in various robberies.
As police watched, they said, Randall pulled out a 9mm derringer pistol and demanded money at about 1:30 a.m. After the clerk emptied two cash registers, Randall ran to a maroon Ford Explorer he had parked nearby, police said.
Randall threw his gun on the roof of a house and was arrested. Randall had been released from prison in December after serving 10 years for robbery.
Police said Randall started his crime spree Aug. 6. They say he is the man who robbed a clerk with a butcher knife at the 7-Eleven at 11590 Fourth St. N in St. Petersburg on Aug. 19.
He has been charged with armed robbery. He had not been booked into jail by 9 a.m.
