A man who admitted to having a drug problem was arrested Tuesday in connection with a purse snatching from a shopping cart in the parking lot of a Belleview grocery store.
Belleview Police officers were called Sunday to the Winn-Dixie at 11310 SE Hwy. 301 and when they arrived, the victim told them that a man had taken her purse while she was loading her groceries into her vehicle. She said he had gotten into a green SUV that had been waiting for him on the north side of the building, a police report states, adding that the woman said the total value of her purse and its contents was less than $100.
A witness confirmed the victim’s story, adding that she saw the purse snatcher, later identified as 31-year-old Troy Scott May II, jump into the window of the SUV before it sped away. She also provided officers with the vehicle’s license plate number, the report says.
After confirming that May owned the vehicle, A Belleview officer and a Sumter County sheriff’s detective went to his listed address in Webster, in the 5300 block of SW 121st Ave. They spoke with May’s father, who said he had kicked his son out four or five months earlier because of his drug addiction. He said they hadn’t spoken to each other since then and he didn’t know where was living, the report says.
The officer showed May’s father video surveillance of the purse snatching and he responded, “That looks like Troy.” He added, “I hope you find him before he ends up dead because of drugs,” the report says.
On Tuesday, May called the Belleview officer to find out why he wanted to speak with him. He said he no longer lived with his father and was staying with his girlfriend in Ocala. And he agreed to come to the Belleview Police Station to talk to the officer.
May then admitted to stealing the purse and diving into the driver’s side window of his green 1998 Ford Expedition that his girlfriend was driving. He said she didn’t know anything about the crime and added that the purse only contained about $20, so he threw it and the contents out the window of his vehicle, the report says.
May also allegedly admitted to stealing the purse so he could get money for his drug addiction. The officer noted that he was cooperative throughout the interview.
May was charged with robbery by sudden snatching and petit theft. He was being held on $2,500 bond and is due in court Dec. 3 at 9 a.m.