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Hitchhiker faces assault charge

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 2, 2009

HUDSON - A 29-year-old homeless hitchhiker is accused of beating an elderly man who gave him a ride from a liquor store before stealing his car.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Donald Winston, 79, picked up James Alfred Jacobsen around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday.

When Winston drove Jacobsen, 29, to Rhodes Road and U.S. 19, Jacobsen grabbed the older man's arm and punched him in the face and head more than a dozen times, breaking his nose and causing several cuts, the sheriff's office said.

Jacobsen demanded Winston's money, but the older man had only $2; Jacobsen then stole Winston's 2001 Ford Taurus and drove away, a sheriff's report said. Jacobsen was identified by an ex-girlfriend who viewed surveillance video from the liquor store.

Jacobsen was charged with carjacking, robbery and aggravated battery on a person 65 years of age or older. He was being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $110,000. Winston's car has not been recovered.

Geoff Fox

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