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Trio Attack 82-Year-Old In St. Pete, Steal His SUV

News Channel 8 photo by WALLY PATANOW

Samuel Hemingway, 82, holds the shirt ripped by three robbers as they stole his SUV from him outside a St. Pete barbershop on Monday.

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By ROD CHALLENGER and STEPHEN THOMPSON

News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 8, 2008

Updated: 07/08/2008 04:14 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Eighty-two-year-old Samuel Hemingway had just left Dan's Barbershop early Monday evening, and was about to open the door to his 2003 Ford Expedition when someone grabbed his hand.

Before he knew it, the retired longshoreman was being accosted by three young men who wanted to take his sport utility vehicle.

The octogenarian didn't give up the vehicle without a fight, though. Even after he was thrown to the ground, he tried to fend off the thieves, at times with his feet, he said. At the time, one of the thieves was trying to pry his car keys from his hand, while another was in his pocket after his wallet, he said.

"I tried to fight back, trying to do the best, wrestling and fighting, fighting against them, kicking," he said at his home today. Had he not been on his back, he said, he thinks he could have prevailed.

"I be old, but I mean, I could handle them, you know, I could do something better than I did," he said.

A few hours after the trio drove Hemingway's SUV from the barbershop at 2944 18th Ave. S., it was discovered abandoned five blocks away, St. Petersburg police said.

There is a problem, however. The keys weren't recovered, and Hemingway doesn't have a spare pair.

In the struggle with the culprits, Hemingway's shirt was torn, and his eyeglasses were knocked off, which means he didn't get a great look at the suspects. He also hurt his right elbow and got a cut on his nose.

Rod Challenger can be reached at (727) 536 8443 or rchallenger@wfla.com. Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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