Man charged with using fake gun

PALM HARBOR -- A Safety Harbor man was charged Tuesday with using a fake gun to commit a real crime, according to arrest reports.

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said Johnny Charles Rowe III, 40, of 985 Seventh St. N, and a woman went into the Wal-Mart at 35404 U.S. 19 N about 1 a.m. with an empty bag and tried to walk out later with a full bag.

Confronted by store security, Rowe slapped at the hand of one loss prevention officer and, in the parking lot, pulled what appeared to be a black handgun on another, deputies said.

He told her, "Get away from me, or I'll blow your f------ head off," an arrest report said. Store employees took down the tag number of the truck the couple was driving and sheriff's deputies caught up with them at the Shady Lane Mobile Home Park.

The gun turned out to be a cigarette lighter, said sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie. The bag was not recovered, and deputies did not know what might have been taken from Wal-Mart.

Rowe was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released Tuesday night from the Pinellas County jail on $10,500 bail.

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