OCALA, Fla. – A man was arrested after he robbed a gas station in Marion County on Monday, according to the Ocala Police Department.
Police said they received a report about an armed robbery at the Marathon gas station located at 3620 East Silver Springs Blvd. around 2:45 a.m.
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According to a news release, the gas station’s clerk said that the suspect entered the store and pretended to buy cigarettes using cash. Once the cash register was open, the suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Travis Givens, reached into his hoodie and revealed a gun wrapped in a plastic bag.
He then demanded that the clerk empty the cash register, police said. At the same time, Givens instructed the clerk to put his personal cell phone and store landline phone into a bag.
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Police said the man was able to get away with the money from the register which was emptied into a bag.
Soon after the robbery, a responding officer noticed two individuals walking north on NE 36th Ave., one of whom was wearing a gray hoodie matching the suspect description.
As the officer approached the individuals, the one wearing the hoodie ran into a wooded area at NE 14 Street and NE 33th Avenue. The other individual also did not obey orders and continued “walking out of sight.”'
Police said they established a perimeter around the wooded area and began tracking it with a K-9, which led to the discovery of an abandoned plastic bag containing cash, a cell phone and a portable landline phone.
Police said they located the gray hoodie near the wood line and inside of the pocket found a small starter pistol.
According to officers, they then received a call from a resident saying that a man jumped over their fence and fled toward a wooded area.
Officers said they were then able to locate 25-year-old Travis Givens hiding in a bush.
Police said that Givens surrendered and was taken into custody.
He faces an armed robbery charge.
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