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Officer held in attempted robbery case
By LEANORA MINAI © St. Petersburg Times, published March 13, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- After nine weeks of investigation, St. Petersburg police Officer Antonio Garner was arrested Monday and charged with attempted armed robbery. State Attorney Bernie McCabe will prosecute Garner in connection with a Jan. 6 attempted armed robbery in Gulfport. McCabe also charged Garner with filing a false police report. "There were some twists and turns that needed to be checked out, and they were checked out, and we feel comfortable with what we did," McCabe said Monday. Garner, 32, was arrested just before 8 p.m. by St. Petersburg police officers at Northwest Recreation Center at 22nd Avenue N and 58th Street, where his son was playing baseball. An officer for nearlyseven years, Garner was booked in the Pinellas County Jail, where he remains pending $50,000 bail. He has been removed from paid police administrative leave and now is on unpaid leave. His grandmother, Minnie Starks, 61, said Monday night that she has not talked with Garner in a month and is stunned by the charges. "I don't believe it," said Starks, 61. "I just can't see him doing that, really. You never know. It's hard to believe. I look at him, and I wonder what's going on." Garner is charged with the attempted armed robbery that occurred at 6:45 a.m. Jan. 6 outside an apartment complex at 711 58th St. S in Gulfport. Christopher Croley, 36, said a white Ford Bronco II pulled up as he was entering an apartment. Croley was walking back to his car when a man walked up to him with a black handgun. "It's a holdup," the man said, according to court records. "Give me everything you got!" Croley said the suspect was wearing a white, hooded jacket with a zipper and black gloves. The hood was pulled so tight that all that could be seen were the suspect's eyes. A flap covered the lower portion of the suspect's face. "I'll shoot you," the suspect shouted as he chased Croley, court records say. "I'll shoot you dead." They both got into their cars, and Croley followed the Ford Bronco, which left tracks in dirt. Police later made plastic molds of the impressions. Croley called 911 with the Ford Bronco's license tag number. The Ford Bronco was registered to Garner, who was off duty at the time. Garner soon called police and reported that his wife, Gina Garner, had just been chased through their neighborhood in the Bronco. Police outside Garner's house in St. Petersburg saw the Bronco backed into the driveway. When Gulfport police tried to question Garner, he drove away on a motorcycle. He returned 15 minutes later. He and his wife wouldn't answer questions. Detectives also are investigating whether Garner might be linked to a series of five driveway robberies on Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 in west St. Petersburg. At least two people have picked Garner out of a lineup of photographs, saying he was the man who robbed them at gunpoint. But Garner has not been charged with those crimes. Angela Osgood, one of the women who picked Garner out of the photo lineup, said she does not understand why St. Petersburg officials have not charged him in her case. "I know he is the one who did it," she said Monday. "I teach at the school where his daughter goes, and when he comes to pick up his daughter, it really frightens me. It really scares me." Gulfport police Lt. Michael Quill said Gulfport investigators got "new information," which helped them make a case against Garner in the Jan. 6 incident. When asked about the evidence, Quill said, "I can't go into that." John Trevena, the attorney representing Croley, learned of the arrest from a reporter Monday night. "Excellent," he said. "I'm sure my client will be very pleased with the arrest, although he was very disappointed in the amount of time it took to effectuate the arrest."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
