Deputies arrest Bartow man accused of 20 dollar-store robberies

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A 32-year-old Bartow man was arrested Tuesday in connection with 20 robberies of Dollar General and Family Dollar stores throughout Central Florida, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Terell Covington, who was planning another robbery when he was arrested, was charged with three robberies in unincorporated Polk County, two of which were armed, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carrie Horstman said.

Covington is suspected of 17 other robberies in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Kissimmee, Plant City, Bradenton, Tampa and unincorporated Hillsborough and Orange counties, Horstman said.

Investigators said Covington robbed a Dollar General on East Memorial Boulevard on Dec. 10, a Family Dollar on Kathleen Road on Dec. 17 and a Dollar General on East County Road 540A on Feb. 28 during which he zip-tied two employees' legs together before fleeing by bicycle. Each of the stores are near Lakeland.

"With all the technology available today, we're not sure what this suspect was thinking," Sheriff Grady Judd said in an emailed statement. "He was bound to get caught. Thanks to the great teamwork with our Central Florida partnering agencies, his robbing days are over."

Detectives said they followed Covington’s pickup truck from his Bartow home to a Home Depot near Lakeland, where he was picked up by someone driving a Nissan Altima. The pair circled a Dollar Tree and a Dollar General near Kissimmee.

Polk County deputies contacted Osceola County deputies, who stopped the driver, Joshua Patterson, 27, of Lakeland, and his passenger, Covington, Horstman said.

Investigators said Covington was taken to a PCSO substation for an interview, during which he confessed to 18 robberies in the Tampa Bay area.

"Covington advised that Patterson was the 'getaway driver' during three of the robberies and that on April 10, they were planning to commit another one before being thwarted by law enforcement," Horstman said.

Both men were arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail, where they’re being jailed without bail. They’re scheduled to face a judge Thursday afternoon.

Patterson was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an armed robbery.

Covington was charged with two counts of armed robbery, one count of burglary with battery, one count of robbery with a mask two counts of armed burglary with battery and two counts of false imprisonment.

Investigators said Covington had previously been arrested nine times between 2003 and 2008, including for robberies in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in Marion County, Indiana. He was sentenced to six years in prison for robbery, deputies said.

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