Two bags of money swiped from Publix

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 16, 2007

TAMPA

Two gunmen with T-shirts wrapped around their faces stole two bags of money from a Publix grocery store on Waters Avenue about 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

The men followed an Armor truck employee into the store at 7018 Waters Ave. as he was making a delivery of money. A manager brought the Armor employee to a safe, where the men pushed the manager to the side, grabbed the bags and ran out of the store, sheriff's officials said. No one was injured.

ST. PETERSBURG

No bids? Pablo would have been very upset

They came, they looked, but in the end, no one bid for a Pablo Picasso etching up for auction on eBay for $416,617.

Tom Finkbiner, owner of the iSoldit store in St. Petersburg that was handling the sale, said Saturday the item received 760 hits by the time the auction ended at 10:33 a.m. "We're encouraged by the interest, that's for sure," he said. The seller, a St. Petersburg woman who Finkbiner said wanted to remain anonymous, will likely repost the item in January. Although bidding for the etching started at $416,617, the undisclosed reserve price - the minimum the seller would accept - was significantly higher. The winning bidder would have had 10 days to verify the authenticity of the etching.

[Last modified December 16, 2007, 00:27:27]