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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 9, 2002
TAMPA -- Georgia authorities have arrested a 42-year-old man suspected in eight Hillsborough County armed robberies since September, as well as in several other robberies in Florida and Georgia.
Investigators say Darrell Earl Blackwelder, of 515 Holiday Ter. in Brandon, fled Hillsborough after the robberies and, while on the run, robbed stores in Brooksville and Panama City.
They said he then entered Georgia, where he robbed another store in Donaldsonville and shot the clerk in the leg.
Georgia authorities placed alerts on Blackwelder's car, and he was stopped after a pursuit in Houston County, near Dothan, Ala.
There, he resisted arrest and tried to take an officer's weapon, reports state. A passing citizen stopped and assisted in the arrest.
Authorities said Blackwelder admitted to the Florida robberies after being taken into custody.
Records show Blackwelder was released from prison in January after spending more than 17 years behind bars on various fraud and grand theft convictions, as well as an attempted murder conviction in 1984.
Blackwelder is being held at the Seminole County Jail in Donaldsonville, Ga.