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Authorities seek man who robbed Hess station

NEW PORT RICHEY - Authorities have few leads in an armed robbery Sunday morning at a Hess Express gas station on Plathe Road.

A clerk told Pasco County sheriff's deputies that shortly after she opened the store at 6 a.m., a man wearing a ski mask walked in, pointed a silver handgun at her and forced her behind the counter.

She gave the robber money, and he took an additional sum from under the register. The amounts were not disclosed Monday.

With the money in hand, the man told the clerk to lie on the floor and count to 500, an incident report said. She got up when he left the store and called the Sheriff's Office.

A deputy was near the store when the call was dispatched. He said he saw only the clerk and no vehicles outside other than the clerk's.

Additional deputies were called to search the area for a suspect, but none was found. A security camera tape from the gas station was viewed by the Sheriff's Office.

The robber was described as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 180 pounds. He was wearing a white shirt, shorts and white sneakers, as well as the dark ski mask, the clerk said.

The Sheriff's Office asked anyone with information to call 1-800-854-2862 and ask for the detective handling the case.

HUDSON - A man robbed the AmSouth Bank on U.S. 19 Monday afternoon, making off with an undisclosed sum.

The man walked into the bank at 14212 U.S. 19 at about 1:30 p.m. and presented a deposit slip with a message demanding money. The teller complied, and the robber escaped on foot, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.

A weapon was not displayed.

"We were very happy no one was hurt," AmSouth spokeswoman Susan Lang said. "Our main concern is the safety of the customers and employees."

Lang said the bank's surveillance system would have caught the transaction.

The robber was described as a 5-foot-8, 180-pound white man, between 30 and 40 years old, with a tanned complexion and a cracked front tooth. He was wearing a black T-shirt over a white shirt, short demim pants, brown work boots with white socks and a camouflage baseball cap on which rested sunglasses.

The same bank was robbed last May. In that case, a man handed a teller a note saying he had a bomb.

The Sheriff's Office asked anyone with information to call Detective Pete Weekes at 1-800-854-2862.

ZEPHYRHILLS - The estimate of total arrests from the 2003 Livestock Festival hit 76 at the close of the weekend. The arrests amounted to 140 charges, including 60 felonies and 80 misdemeanors.

Most of those arrests involved drug possession charges, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. The drugs included cocaine, heroin, nitrous oxide and prescription drugs.