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Robbery suspect faces new charges

Arrested in a failed bank robbery Friday, he was linked to robberiesin June and July.

By Times Staff
Published February 8, 2005

TAMPA - Authorities added six new bank robbery charges, most of them in Brandon, to a man who was already in jail for trying to rob a bank on Causeway Boulevard.

Donald Robert Richard, 45, remained in jail on $48,750 bail Monday. The Hillsborough sheriff's office updated charges for Richard this week to include seven different counts of robbery, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

Richard allegedly went into a Wachovia Bank at 11265 Causeway Blvd. on Friday, Carter said, and gave the teller a note demanding money. When the teller said she didn't have the amount of money Richard asked for in her drawer, he ran. Deputies found him at a nearby store and arrested him, said Carter.

While further investigating the robbery on Causeway Boulevard, deputies linked Richard to six other bank robberies, mostly in the Brandon area, and said he's a suspect in two bank robberies in the Orlando area.

In Tampa, deputies said Richard was involved in robberies at Wachovia Bank at 510 Oakfield Drive in Brandon on June 1; Valrico State Bank at 102 Robertson St. in Brandon on June 15; Bank of America at 300 S Parsons Ave. in Brandon on June 16; Bank of America at 3414 Bell Shoals Road in Brandon on June 18; Gulf Coast Credit Union at 710 Oakfield Drive in Brandon on June 25; and Bank of America at 10301 Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa on July 7. He also hit the Wachovia bank that deputies said he attempted to rob on Friday back on July 17, Carter said.

Jail records show that Richard has been arrested at least three other times in Hillsborough County since 2001. His previous charges have included counts of uttering a forged instrument, counts of grand theft, organized fraud and writing worthless checks.

[Last modified February 8, 2005, 00:21:16]