Man accused of stealing blow-up doll
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 10:22 p.m.
A man accused of shoplifting a blow-up doll from an adult store on Monday was charged with armed robbery in connection with an incident with another patron inside an arcade booth at the store a few hours later.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office also accused the man of instigating a disturbance at a convenience store, causing a wreck and changing into a woman's jogging suit while stealing a gun. His girlfriend was arrested on allegations that she helped him hide from deputies.
Brett Aaron Sanford, 26, was arrested after he was found hiding under the mattress at the home where he and his girlfriend live with her mother at 13525 N.E. County Road 1471 in Waldo.
Sanford's problems began Monday when he allegedly stole a blow-up doll from the Theater X Adult Super Center at 6810 N.E. U.S. 301 in Orange Heights. Deputies said the theft was discovered later, after Sanford had returned to the store at about 2 p.m.
During his second visit to Theater X, witnesses said Sanford was inside an arcade booth mumbling to himself. Another man offered to help and stepped into the booth to take a closer look at the dollar-bill device, deputies reported. The man told deputies Sanford asked him "Do you see this?" and held up an item that looked like a gun.
The man claimed he did not have any money but offered to go out to his car and get some. Sanford responded by saying, "I don't want to hear that," the Sheriff's Office reported.
The two men got into a wrestling match for control of the gun, the man said, while the store manager called 911.
Sanford was seen leaving in a gray Ford Focus that had significant body damage.
While deputies were responding to Theater X, a disturbance was reported at Tim's Fast Nickel Store at 9905 S.E. Hawthorne Road. Sheriff's spokesman Art Forgey said the instigator in the disturbance later was identified as Sanford, but charges had not been filed against him in connection with that incident by late Tuesday.
Putnam County deputies were called to assist in the search for Sanford and helped Alachua County deputies find his car, which appeared to have been abandoned at 4200 N.E. County Road 234.
Forgey said the car apparently had side-swiped a trailer being pulled by another driver. Following the crash, witnesses said a man matching Sanford's description fled into a nearby wooded area. The incident was under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol on Tuesday.
Inside the car, deputies reported finding Sanford's driver's license as well as a blow-up doll that Forgey said apparently had been shoplifted during Sanford's first visit to Theater X.
Late Monday, deputies were working a burglary in the area where Sanford's car was found. Forgey said based on evidence at the scene, it appeared Sanford might have changed into a woman's jogging suit and stolen a .22-caliber pistol.
Sanford was arrested Tuesday after being discovered beneath a bedroom mattress by a Sheriff's Office canine named Razor. Sanford's girlfriend, Karilynn Ruth Yoder, 27, was arrested for resisting an officer after she allegedly denied that Sanford was inside the home.
Sanford and Yoder were being held at the Alachua County jail late Tuesday evening.
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