Crime & Safety
Update: Alleged 'Seffner Bandit’ in Custody Following Chase, Crash, Arrest
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reported that Andre King, who crashed into a pole on Lakewood Drive in Brandon at around 9 p.m. Dec. 13 had earlier drawn a gun at a Stop-n-Save convenience store in Seffner.
Posted, 5:55 p.m., Dec. 14:
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Update, 2:33 p.m., Dec. 14:
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Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies have arrested and charged a man they say could be the "Seffner Bandit" following a late-night chase and crash.
Andre King, 32, of 1348 Dab Dr., Seffner, is charged with at least eight counts of armed robbery, according to a sherriff's news release.
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"Andre King is suspect in at least 21 armed robberies that have occurred in the Seffner area in the last year," sheriff's office spokesperson Larry McKinnon wrote in the release.
(See )
This investigation is continuing with additional charges pending.
Earlier:
The man who revealed a gun inside a Stop-n-Save Food Store in Seffner last night, and later crashed into a pole on Lakewood Drive in Brandon, could be the so-called "Seffner Bandit," according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's report issued after the Dec. 13 incident.
"Detectives are working to determine if the suspect in custody is the same man who's been labeled as the 'Seffner Bandit' and has committed multiple robberies in the Seffner area," according to the report.
The suspect was transported to Tampa General Hospital, where he was reportedly being treated for injuries that were not life threatening.
His name, charges and additional details of the investigation were to be released after 8 a.m. Dec. 14.
According to the Dec. 13 sheriff's report:
At around 8:15 p.m., a clerk at the Stop-n-Save Food Store at 4801 Clewis Ave. was told that a man with a gun was about to enter.
The suspect, indeed, walked in, and drew his gun, but so, too, did the clerk, who brandished a gun in response.
The clerk had already called 911.
The suspect fled.
Deputies arriving on the scene saw the suspect enter a Honda Accord and take flight. The suspect refused to stop as the deputies attempted to pull the car over.
"A chase ensued and continued for approximately 10 minutes until the man crashed into a concrete power pole just north of State Road 60 on Lakewood Drive in Brandon," according to the sheriff's report.
No other damages or injuries were reported.
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