A disturbed North Carolina man robbed a Nocatee gas station clerk before setting a fire outside a popular nearby cafe, according to police documents.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a Daily’s in the community’s commercial center after 4 a.m. Saturday morning after a clerk reported being robbed.
The victim stated that Clifton Givens, 32, of Charlotte, pulled into a parking spot in front of the store in a white sedan.
Givens then entered and began waving a knife while barking commands.
“Give me the money,” the staffer recalled him saying while making stabbing motions with the blade.
Givens then began hacking items on the counter, including a package of cookies and a water bottle.
“The defendant then threw a cookie at the clerk but missed,” papers state.
Givens grabbed an $8 bundle of firewood by the door without paying as he left the scene in his vehicle.
Deputies received a call soon after from a resident reporting a man “dancing around a burning shrub” outside Nocatee’s Kookaburra cafe behind the main Publix.
The officers attempted to put out the blaze and did so with the help of arriving fire crews.
Meanwhile, a deputy spotted a white sedan with no license plate traveling along nearby Tavernier Street and pulled the vehicle over in a parking lot.
Givens exited his car and began approaching the officer, who pulled out his gun and held him at bay until backup arrived and placed the suspect in custody.
He admitted to police that he had brass knuckles, marijuana, a knife and a BB gun in his vehicle, the arrest report states.
Givens was taken to county jail but refused to cooperate with a nurse at the facility and was transferred to Flagler Hospital for an evaluation.
The report noted that Givens had his wrists secured behind his back, but twice managed to maneuver them to the front.
While at Flagler, Givens slapped one deputy’s arm away as nurses tried to take his blood pressure before kicking another officer in the leg.
Givens was then transported to county jail.
He now faces a felony armed robbery rap, along with charges of assault on officers and a pair of misdemeanors for the firewood theft and bush burn.
Givens is being held without bond on the top charge against him. His public defender is seeking to have him found mentally unfit to stand trial, court papers indicate.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated that Givens was released without bond. He was released on his own recognizance on one charge, but held without bond on the top count of robbery with a weapon.
One Response
Why would he be released on his own recognizance if he is claiming to be mentally unfit.