BROOKSVILLE, Fla. (WFLA) — A Brooksville man was arrested Thursday after deputies said he robbed a Walmart employee in the store’s parking lot.
Hernando County deputies said an employee was sitting in her car on her break at the Cortez Boulevard Walmart in Brooksville when a man approached her and demanded her purse, cash credit cards and any PIN numbers associated with the cards.
Deputies said the suspect, later identified as Terry Wayne Leonard, aka/Terrence Wayne Lemmon, pointed a long-fixed blade knife at the victim as he made the demands.
The employee complied, giving the suspect all the items he demanded. Before he walked away, investigators said Leonard grabbed the employee’s phone from her hands and took off with it.
Right after the incident, the employee ran to two customers who were nearby and told them what happened. As Leonard fled the scene, the customers ran toward his vehicle and got the tag number.
When deputies arrived, they said the employee gave them a thorough description of the suspect and his vehicle to deputies and a manager gave them video footage of the incident.
Investigators said they found the employee’s cell phone a short distance away. The phone’s screen was smashed as if it had been thrown from a moving vehicle, deputies said.
Detectives said they eventually located Leonard after they issued a “be on the lookout.”
Investigators said they found his car in the parking lot of the Dunkin Donuts on Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville. Leonard was then placed into custody but refused to identify himself.
Detectives said they found a wallet that belonged to the Walmart employee in Leonard’s pocket. They said they also found the knife in his car.
Leonard was then arrested and charged with armed robbery and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Detectives requested that Leonard be held on no bond due to the severity of the crime and the fact that he is a transient.
