Gainesville Police arrested a Missouri man Sunday night after officers alleged he stole cigarettes from several stores and ran from police.
Terry Joe Roberts, 37, was arrested on charges of robbery, drug possession and eluding law enforcement officers, according to an arrest report.
At about 9 p.m., Roberts tried to buy cigarettes from the Chevron gas station at 3328 W. University Ave.
When the clerk asked for Roberts’ ID and put a carton of cigarettes on the counter, Roberts grabbed the carton. He struggled with the clerk and twisted her arm before leaving the store with the cigarettes.
He then went to Gator Beverage, 1126 W. University Ave., and stole a carton of Newport cigarettes the clerk had started to set down on the counter. Roberts “snatched” the carton from the clerk’s hand and left the store with it.
Earlier that night, Roberts committed a similar theft at the Gate station at 500 NW 13th Street, and officers reported he may have been driving a silver Dodge Neon, GPD spokesman Ofc. Ben Tobias wrote in an email.
Based on the three incidents, police monitored University Avenue to try to catch Roberts. Roberts drove into Kingswood Court neighborhood.
There, Roberts jumped from his moving car, which kept moving and hit another vehicle and caused about $1,000 worth of damage.
Roberts ran into a wooded area, where officers ordered him to stop at gunpoint and arrested him. During a search, officers found a pipe with traces of cocaine in his pocket.
Roberts was booked into the Alachua County Jail, where he remained as of press time with a $65,000 bond.
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 10/22/2013 under the headline "Man wrestles cigarettes from cashiers, crashes car"
