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Police Say Man Stole Knife For Use In Robbery

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 24, 2008

TAMPA - Deputies have arrested a man who they said took a knife from a grocery store in Largo this afternoon then used it minutes later during a robbery of a nearby pharmacy, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Robert T. Halstead

Robert T. Halstead, 31, of 6131 141st Terrace N., Clearwater, was charged with armed robbery, trafficking in oxycodone, petty theft and three counts of aggravated assault.

According to deputies, Halstead's brief crime spree began about 3 p.m. today, when he allegedly shoplifted a kitchen knife from an Albertson's supermarket at 2770 W. Bay Drive in the Bellair Bluffs area north of Largo.

Halstead then walked to a Walgreen's pharmacy at 103 Indian Rocks Road, less than a half mile south of the grocery store, deputies said. Halstead brandished the knife at the pharmacy's employees, demanded oxycodone and ran from the store when he was given the pills, the sheriff's office said.

Halstead returned to the grocery store where the knife was taken and deputies found him in the restroom "shaving off facial hair in an obvious attempt to alter his appearance," a sheriff's office news release said.

Inside the restroom, deputies found a kitchen knife and oxycodone pills, the sheriff's office said.

Halstead was taken to Pinellas County Jail where his bail was set at $130,250.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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