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Man Scares Off Would-Be Robbers

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By HOWARD ALTMAN

haltman@tampatrib.com

Published: December 8, 2008

When John Silva opened his St. Petersburg variety store about 9 a.m. Sunday, he brought Gertrude with him.

Gertrude, he says, was his grandfather's .22-caliber Sentinel Arms revolver. Silva's other gun, Betsy - a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol - was taken by St. Petersburg police as evidence.

Two men came in to John's Variety, 208 4th St. N., about 8 p.m. Saturday, Silva said. Their faces were covered with something resembling a ninja mask, he said.

What looked like a .45-caliber handgun was pointed at him.

"They told me and a customer to 'get on the floor, give me your money,'" Silva said. "I moved as if going down on the floor, reached for my gun, stood back up with the .380 in my hands and they ran like jackrabbits."

Not long after Silva chased the would-be robbers, St. Petersburg police arrested two men they say tried to rob the store.

Benjamin Roland Jones, 19, of 934 10th Ave. S., was picked up on Central Avenue.

Cory Jay Smith, 21, was found hiding in a lake and received a minor bite from a police K-9 dog, police said.

Smith, of 985 Melrose Ave. S., is being held in the Pinellas County Jail. Bail was set at $50,000.

Police say the men do not appear to be connected with recent armed robberies that left two brothers wounded.

Reporter Neil Johnson contributed to this report.

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