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Charges In Robbery Puzzle Family, Friends

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By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

TAMPA - Lawyer Brian Gonzalez knew Cody Overby as a standout wide receiver on the Chamberlain High School football team.

A family friend, Gonzalez remembered how an infection caused Overby's fingertip to be amputated while at the University of Kentucky, ending his athletic career.

Now Gonzalez is defending Overby against criminal charges connected to the mugging of a woman this week outside a Carrollwood bank. Gonzalez has yet to meet with Overby about the charges but called them "very out of character for this young man."

His family is "shocked and disappointed," the attorney said. "They're still trying to make heads or tails as to how something like this is alleged to have occurred."

Overby, who turns 21 next week, was being held Wednesday at Orient Road Jail with bail set at $9,500. He is charged with felony strong-arm robbery and felony grand theft.

$13,000 Taken From Woman

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Overby snatched $13,000 from Joanne Gavlick, 54, outside a Bank of America branch Monday afternoon. The money later was found in a trash can in the men's room of a nearby Subway sandwich shop.

J.D. Callaway, a sheriff's spokesman, said detectives are searching for two other men later seen with Overby.

An arrest affidavit gives this account of what happened after the robbery:

Gavlick gave deputies a description of her attacker: white, about 6 feet tall, with very short brown hair and wearing a plaid shirt and shorts. Using the description, a deputy stopped Overby and said he "provided inconsistent statements regarding his reason for being in the area." But the deputy let him go.

The deputy noted that Overby was carrying a sandwich from Subway.
Overby also was identified by two people who recognized him from high school. One told investigators Overby approached him at the Subway shop, 4351 N. Dale Mabry Highway, and offered him $100 for a ride out of the area.

The other, who works at a GrillSmith restaurant nearby, said Overby and two unidentified men confronted a 16-year-old boy and others in the boy's dinner party, demanding they "give back the property they found in the restroom" from the Subway restaurant, the affidavit states.

The men had become angry with the teenager earlier, investigators said, for "taking too long" in the men's bathroom at the same Subway restaurant.

They also confronted Subway employees, "asking for a large amount of U.S. currency that had been left in the restroom garbage can," the affidavit states.

But at that point, detectives had the money. A Subway employee found it when he went to empty the trash.

Deputies arrested Overby on Tuesday, based on their interviews and bank surveillance video.

Investigators recovered $11,000 and returned it to Gavlick Wednesday.

Attorney Gonzalez questioned why roughly $2,000 is missing.

Family 'Deeply Distraught'

Overby's mother, Lisa Brock, said in a prepared statement, "Our family is deeply distraught on many levels, but our primary concern is for Cody. We love him unconditionally." She said she was thankful Gavlick had not been seriously hurt.

"Until they show us he's guilty, we prefer to think he's innocent," Overby's stepmother, Susan Larkin, said Wednesday.

Gavlick, who volunteers as a prison minister, said she has been disabled since 1999 because of a back injury. She was mugged after she arrived at the bank to deposit cash withdrawn from her pension. She is writing a book on spirituality and planned to use the money for a stay at the beach and to secure an apartment in Mango, she said.

The sheriff's office asked anyone with information about the other men to call (813) 247-8200. Reporter Tom Krause contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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