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Man found with skeleton mask, charged in thefts
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- The skeleton-masked robber walked into a Spring Hill food store Wednesday night, pointed a butcher knife at the clerk and grabbed $350 from the cash drawer. "Thanks for cooperating," he said before running into the night, leaving behind one black glove. Almost four hours later, a sheriff's deputy stopped a silver Chrysler in Brooksville after the driver failed to signal a turn. The driver, Scott Joseph Higgins, was sweating and shaking and tried to shove a brown cigar pouch into his pants, authorities said. The pouch held two rocks of crack cocaine. Higgins' hands were cuffed when another deputy arrived and noted his 6-foot-7 frame. Sgt. Tom Garcia thought he resembled the description of the skeleton robber and asked to search the car, Higgins agreed. In the trunk, beneath a pile of clothes, lay a mask with a bony white face and one black glove, authorities said. And so the case of the skeleton robber came to a close in the Taco Bell parking lot on Broad Street early Thursday, authorities said. They charged Higgins, 33, of 33336 Westwood Drive in Ridge Manor, with two counts of armed robbery and one count of possessing a controlled substance. Authorities said Higgins robbed the Island Food Store at 1156 Mariner Blvd. in Spring Hill about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Higgins also is a suspect in at least five other robberies in Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties during the past six weeks. Authorities said they uncovered a sad story beneath Higgins' mask. Higgins, a furniture delivery man, wept as he told detectives about his drug addiction, authorities said. He said he smoked marijuana, and one day a dealer gave him a free sample of crack cocaine. He got hooked. He told authorities he had a $300-a-day habit, according to the arrest affidavit. Detective Mike Nelson wrote in reports that Higgins alluded to his involvement in the robberies but "refused to discuss particulars of the cases, as he was afraid of going to prison." Higgins said he wanted to make a statement but wished to speak to a lawyer first, the detective wrote. Higgins has no criminal record in Florida, according to state records. In Hernando County, authorities believe Higgins robbed the Best Western motel and Hampton Inn near Interstate 75 in December. They said he walked into the lobbies wearing a skeleton mask, a dark, hooded sweat shirt and gloves, waved a butcher knife at clerks and stole a total of $375. Detectives have not charged Higgins with those robberies but continue investigating. Detectives charged Higgins with robbing a Chevron station on Powell Road south of Brooksville in January. In that case, a clerk and his brother chased the robber from the store with a wooden club and mop handle. Higgins also may have robbed a movie store in Ridge Manor on Tuesday in which a man wearing a skeleton mask held a butcher knife and threatened a 22-year-old clerk, who was so terrified that he quit his job the next day, authorities said. Jon Powers of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Higgins is a suspect in a Dec. 19 robbery of a Cumberland Farms store on U.S. 98 north of Dade City. "We've been comparing notes with Hernando detectives," Powers said. "We're definitely interested in talking to the guy." Sumter County authorities also suspect Higgins in a gas station robbery that occurred on Christmas Eve, said Lt. Bobby Caruthers. The clerk started hitting the skeleton-masked robber, but someone pulled her away, Caruthers said. The robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Higgins was being held Thursday evening at the Hernando County Jail in lieu of $105,000 bail. -- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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From today's Hernando Times |
