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Man Accused Of Trying To Rob Sarasota Woman, 83

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Agnes Lynn has turned down interview requests after foiling a robber, saying she doesn't want her friends in Pennsylvania to be concerned.

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By TODD RUGER

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: September 12, 2008

  Dennis Strawn

SARASOTA COUNTY - The sheriff's office arrested a man on charges he used a knife to try to rob an 83-year-old woman Wednesday afternoon, only to flee when she fought back and started screaming.

"God bless him; I hope they treat him good," Agnes Lynn said of her attacker.

Deputies found Dennis Strawn on Thursday morning inside a locked Sav-A-Lot store, across Bee Ridge Road from the parking lot where the attempted robbery took place, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chuck Lesaltato said.

Strawn, 58, had apparently hid in the storeroom overnight, was drunk on wine from Sav-A-Lot's stock, and matched the description of the armed robber, Lesaltato said.

Agnes Lynn described the robber as a soft-spoken and clean-shaven man, about 60, who approached her in the Sweetbay parking lot with a knife and told her not to shout or scream.

Lynn yelled "Get outta here," pushed the robber's shoulders with both of her hands and ran to the front of her car yelling for help. The robber ran away.

Lynn picked Strawn's face out of a photo lineup Thursday, and he was charged with the attempted robbery and the burglary at Sav-A-Lot, the Sheriff's Office said.

"I picked him out right away," said Lynn, whose fight against the robber has drawn the attention of media from Tampa to the Pennsylvania town where she used to live.

Lynn has declined those interviews, saying she is a gentle person, more known for the pies she bakes than for crime fighting.

Plus, she does not know anyone in Tampa and the readers in Pennsylvania would just say, "Oh, Agnes never should have moved."

Lynn says she could tell Strawn had some emotional or mental problems, and hopes the arrest gets Strawn help instead of just punishment.

"God bless him; I hope they treat him good," Lynn said. "I hope they do help him, if he can be rehabilitated in some way."

Strawn pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge two weeks ago.

He has had four women file domestic violence injunctions against him since 2005, with two since July, court records show.

Lynn did not want to press charges at first, but officers convinced her that pressing charges could ensure that other people do not get hurt.

"I'm just glad I'm safe," Lynn said. "Thank God it's over."

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