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Man held in 2 robbery incidents
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY -- David Lee McDonald is unemployed and can't pay his bills. He got desperate Monday, he told sheriff's deputies. About 4 p.m., the 28-year-old walked into a real estate office and tried to rob the owner. She hit him over the head with a hole puncher, and he ran off with her briefcase, deputies said. Several minutes later, the former construction worker walked into a convenience store, asked for a pack of cigarettes and then demanded money from the clerk. Fearing he had a gun, the clerk gave him about $250. The clerk's grandson followed McDonald to a nearby club, where deputies captured him. McDonald, 9802 Andy Drive in Hudson, was arrested and faces two counts of robbery and one count of tampering with a witness. His rampage began about 4 p.m. when he walked into Taylor Real Estate at 6139 State Road 54 and told the owner, Alice Taylor, that he wanted to buy a house for his daughter, according to an arrest report. During their conversation, McDonald got up, walked around her desk and told Taylor that he wanted her purse. When she said no, McDonald reached for her briefcase, and Taylor tried to stop him. They fought, and Taylor tried to call 911, but McDonald yanked the phone out of the wall, deputies said. She grabbed a hole puncher and hit him in the back of the head. He pushed her onto the desk, the report said. "I now know who you are, and if you call the police, I will get you," McDonald said before running away, according to deputies. Taylor locked the door and called 911 on her mobile phone. While she was talking to authorities, McDonald traveled west on SR 54. When he reached the intersection of U.S. 19, he went to an Amoco convenience store, deputies said. He walked inside and asked the clerk for a pack of Newport cigarettes. She asked him for $3.20, and McDonald told her to give him money. "I am not fooling. Don't be smart; give me all the money in the register," he told her, according to the sheriff's report. He took the cash and left in his car. The clerk's grandson, James Spicer Jr., was working in the kitchen of the convenience store. He realized his grandmother had been robbed, jumped into his car and followed McDonald to a club on SR 54. On the way, he flagged down a deputy. They approached the club and saw McDonald running out the back. Deputies apprehended him. McDonald was held Tuesday at the Land O'Lakes jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.
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