Polite, kind - and accused in lots of armed robberies
Leon Fortson was always polite - even as he was robbing businesses at gunpoint, officials say. He faces dozens of charges.
By TAMARA LUSH
Published September 13, 2003
TAMPA - James Ellison remembers one thing about the day he was robbed at gunpoint while working at Mangrove's bar and restaurant.
The robber was polite.
"He didn't cuss, he didn't yell or scream," recalled Ellison, the executive chef at the restaurant, of the November 2002 robbery.
The robber even told Ellison to "slow down" and not walk so fast.
Police said the man, Leon Fortson, has confessed to robbing 24 restaurants, stores and businesses in Hillsborough County since 1999. He was arrested by Tampa police earlier this month after a detective recognized Fortson's car.
Authorities said Fortson wore ski masks and camouflage clothes, then walked into businesses when they were about to open or close.
He would demand the money, then order the employees to the floor. He often would steal a car from one of the employees, but police said he never stole cash from the workers.
He was also somewhat kind to his victims.
"He wasn't rude," said Capt. Joan Dias. "He was a very polite robber."
Fortson, 48, was charged Friday with a laundry list of crimes: 22 counts of armed robbery, 17 counts of armed kidnapping, 16 counts of armed carjacking and two counts of grand theft.
Fortson's first robbery happened in December 1999. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, he robbed the U-Haul on N. 56th Street.
After that, Fortson allegedly robbed businesses every few months; he told officers that he needed the money because he had been laid off from his job.
Officials say Fortson robbed a variety of businesses, including Party City, Rooms To Go, Olive Garden and HoneyBaked Ham. He also robbed a fish company, two car rental businesses and a car wash.
Police and Sheriff's deputies were frustrated that they couldn't catch him. At 6-feet, 2-inches tall and 300 pounds, Fortson didn't exactly fade into the woodwork.
But after each robbery, he would steal a different car, making it difficult for detectives to trace him. After the Mangrove's robbery, for instance, he stole Ellison's Mitsubishi Eclipse.
"I need a car," the robber said, during the robbery.
"Well, take mine," Ellison said.
The car was found in Ybor City a few days later with the doors locked and the windows rolled up tight.
"He even put the ignition keys under the floor mat," Ellison said.
But after one robbery, a witness saw Fortson climbing into a Dodge. That, police said, was Ellison's vehicle.
It would be Fortson's undoing.
On Sept. 2, Detective Randy Camp was driving home from work. Near Busch Boulevard and 56th Street, Camp noticed the car in front of him: a Dodge that fit the description of the robber's getaway vehicle.
Camp called for backup, and the officers stopped the car.
The driver was tall and large.
He was identified as Fortson and interviewed. A search of his home turned up two guns, three ski masks and camouflage clothing, officials say.
Fortson, of 3601 N 55th St., Tampa, confessed to robbing the stores, Dias said.
For Ellison and the other victims at Mangrove's, the arrest was good news.
"I really wanted to put this scenario behind me," Ellison said.
- Tamara Lush can be reached at 813 226-3373 or at lush@sptimes.com
