Armed citizen, an off duty jailer, thwarts
robber
Originally published here
as:
Off-duty jailer thwarts robbery
By MARK HARPER, NewsJournalOnline
Staff Writer
Friday, April 6, 2001
DELTONA -- An off-duty jailer picking up a
pizza late Wednesday halted a robbery suspect, then, with his badge in one hand
and a handgun in the other, waited for deputies to arrest the man.
Jerry D. Tilghman, 33, of Philadelphia Court,
Deltona, was charged with one count of robbery and booked into the Volusia
County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on $5,000 bail, said Gary Davidson, public
information officer for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
It was 10:15 p.m. when Volusia County
correctional Officer Edward Kent handed his 14-year-old daughter Kristina a
pizza, and climbed into his car in the parking lot outside Hungry Howie's on
Doyle Road.
Something didn't seem right, Kent said in an
interview Thursday. His eight-plus years of dealing with criminals in the jail
had made him wary of the man in dirty clothes who had allowed Kent to move in
front of him in line a few minutes earlier.
From his car, Kent saw the man push the cashier
and begin fumbling with the cash drawer, he said. Kent told Kristina to get down
in her car seat, then approached the store.
As Tilghman opened the door with one hand,
holding the drawer stuffed with bills in the other, Kent pointed his personal
handgun at him and told him to get down, he said.
"He was in a state of shock," Kent
said. "He argued. He didn't want to get down. Finally, he got down and said
he was scared. I told him, You made a mistake.' "
Employees inside the store dialed 911 and
sheriff's deputies arrived within three minutes of the first call, Kent said.
"If he had run, I would have run after
him," Kent said. "But I would not have fired. I guess (pointing the
gun) was a big bluff."
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