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She walked up and told her intended victim that an unseen man in the back of her car had a gun, authorities say.
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 13, 2002
SPRING HILL -- Nancy Savelli had just parked her car at Deltona Elementary at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when a heavy-set brunette woman appeared at her window.
The woman demanded Savelli's money and warned of a man in the back of the brunette's car. She said he had a gun.
Savelli, who works for the school's YMCA preschool program, pulled out her $200 Dooney and Bourke wallet, which held $15.
The woman grabbed Savelli's wallet and keys. She walked toward her car and yelled "not to shoot, I have the wallet, it is okay," according to an incident report.
Savelli, 46, ran inside screaming.
Several minutes later, authorities arrested Karen Dukes, 42, of 14140 Peace Blvd. in Shady Hills, and charged her with two counts of robbery. Authorities said Dukes also tried to rob a 79-year-old man at the post office on Spring Hill Drive Tuesday.
After hearing about the robbery, a deputy saw a tan Mercury Marquis pull into a gas station on Spring Hill Drive. The driver matched the description given by Savelli and was arrested.
Dukes allowed deputies to search her car, and they found $15, including two $2 bills, which Savelli had reported missing, a report said.
Dukes told deputies that she had spent the night with a friend named "G' and that they had smoked crack early Tuesday morning, the report states. Dukes said her friend suggested she rob a school employee to get "a lot of money" for crack, the report states.
Dukes said she robbed Savelli and dropped her keys in the parking lot so the woman would "at least have her car keys," the report states.
She said she returned to her friend's house and they counted the money. She then left to buy cigarettes. She said she was scared to turn her friend in because he would hurt her and her children, the report said.
She later took deputies to the home of Guye Henry, 41, at 7396 Mead Drive. Inside, deputies found Savelli's green and walnut colored wallet in the kitchen trash can, which also held a broken antenna that had possibly been used for smoking crack, the report said.
Henry said he was not involved in the incident. He has not been charged.
Deputies later found Savelli's keys in the parking lot.
Nevertheless, principal Janet Dunleavy said she was having all the school's locks changed. She said she sent a letter home to parents Tuesday about the incident.
"There has been gossip and we want the parents to know what really happened," Dunleavy said. "We feel safe."
She said the incident occurred before students arrived and that Savelli was shaken but doing okay.
Authorities also charged Dukes with the robbery of Robert Crocker, who said he had just mailed letters at the post office at 6 a.m. when a woman drove up in a tan Mercury.
He said the woman asked where she could find a phone and Crocker suggested nearby restaurants. He said the woman then demanded money and warned that a person in the back of her car had a gun and would use it, Crocker told authorities.
His car was running and he sped off, he told a deputy.
He stopped for breakfast at Burger King before reporting the incident, a report states.
- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.