Robber follows victim home from store, steals wallet
The Sheriff's Office says such follow-home robberies of older people often increase during the holiday season. So far this year that hasn't happened.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published December 17, 2003
CLEARWATER - Leonard Peffer saw the car in his rearview mirror Monday night as he drove home from the grocery store. He worried it was following him, so he watched it when it pulled by his house.
The car turned around and Peffer assumed it was gone. So he kept his garage door open as he climbed out of his car and prepared to unload the groceries. Then he heard footsteps.
"I heard these footsteps like somebody running," Peffer, 63, said Tuesday. "And I turned around and this guy, some way or another, knocked me flat on my back."
Peffer said his assailant lifted his legs and reached for his wallet. Peffer gripped the aluminum legs of a TV tray. Then he started whacking his assailant with it.
"I just started swinging and I started yelling for help," Peffer said.
The robber had to dig a little, but he eventually found Peffer's wallet in his front pocket. Because of a bad back, Peffer keeps his wallet there instead of in his back pocket. Once the robber had the wallet, he dashed away.
Pinellas sheriff's officials said they believe the robber may have followed Peffer home from the grocery store. Follow-home robbers tend to victimize older folks who are out shopping during the holidays. Sheriff's deputies haven't had any similar robberies recently, said Detective Tim Goodman, a sheriff's office spokesman.
"It's that time of year again when they target people," Goodman said.
Peffer, who runs a local business, said he normally does keep an eye out for people behind him when he drives to his home, which is just off McMullen-Booth Road between Enterprise and Sunset Point roads. But he assumed the car behind him was long gone when it turned around. He said he should have made sure.
"I thought they had left and turned around and gone the other way," he said.
Peffer said he thinks the car was white or light-colored. His assailant was a white man who stood 5-foot-11, weighed about 200 pounds and had short black hair. He was clean cut and wore a black sweater or sweat shirt, Peffer said.
Got a tip?
Anyone with information about the robber can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477.
