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Man Charged With Robbing Grocery Advantage
July 1, 2011
A Cantonment man was jailed Thursday evening after robbing the Grocery Advantage armed with a knife.
Kenneth Lee Purifoy, 45, of 1240 Lake Drive in Cantonment, was arrested at a nearby apartment complex after deputies say he robbed the Grocery Advantage store at knife point.
Deputies responded to the store at 736 North Highway 29 for an armed disturbance just after 6 p.m. Thursday.
According to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Purifoy entered the store with numerous shopping bags that he placed in an empty buggy. An employee observed Purifoy enter a restroom with the items in the buggy, but they were not visible when he came out of the restroom.
Moments later, Purifoy was carrying a pack of ribs when he approached a store employee and employees noticed a pack of steaks in his rear waistband. When he was confronted, deputies said Purifoy rain toward the exit, and another pack of steaks fell from the front of his pants.
An employee told deputies that he tried to stop Purifoy and detain him and a struggle ensued.
During the struggle Purifoy pulled a small folding pocketknife on the employee and reportedly stated “I will stab you”. Purifoy then ran out of the store.
“One of our K-9 units tracked the suspect to a nearby apartment complex, said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “Our deputies were able to locate him on the complex grounds and arrested him without incident.”
Purifoy was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, petit theft, robbery and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked in the Escambia County Jail and held on a $20,000 bond.
Comments
22 Responses to “Man Charged With Robbing Grocery Advantage”
Hello Yellerig. The fried baloney is what they serve you in jail. I heard it in a song by Tom T. Hall.
REGARDING:
“I hope this man family can get him an attorney.”
Don’t worry. If he can not afford an attorney, we will provide him with one paid for with our taxes.
David comforting the worried
irritating the taxed
That should be three, not there. BAEBAE made a good point!
Lets pray that we will never have to steal to eat…but what if it did come down to it and you were in this situation….at least he meant no harm until he was cornered up…should sell the knife to buy food huh ?? No telling how much is stolen everyday that the shoplifter does not get caught….
I hope this man family can get him an attorney.
Well if the meat was put back in the meat shelf, there are there “its” that you should do with it….1) clean it 2) cook it 3) pray over it! Hope this helps….Have a Happy 4th!!
I was just there Thursday around 4:30….I love the store, but you just don’t ever know who you will encounter at this location….or any other location these days
Not sure why you folks don’t shop there. They carry a good assortment of veggies, meat and canned goods, soap, etc. The employees are really nice and the prices are great. I’m sorry ti was robbed and that somehow people think this gives the store a bad reputation.should be the robber with the bad reputation!
I never like going to this store but I do shop there quite a bit. The employees are great but I hate the location. I liked it much better in Molino. Those apts. next door are my issue so I do my best to never go there after dark….it’s just scary.
Maybe he was hungry????????? then ask for help – but he stole STEAKS not bologna
This store donates to local schools and helps with food pantries at atleast one local church.
They prosecutes ALL thieves – they will not “just take the product back and ban them from the store” – if the word got out amongst the crowd of folks like Purifoy they would get robbed blind –
Thieves beware………..Leave our local store alone
You are correct, D Huie! : )
maybe he was hungry,maybe he needed food for his family.If he had asked for help from the store, would he have got any help? Times are very tough.But he should not have pulled a knife.I guess I am just a softy.
I hope they threw that meat out. After it was down his pants, I would hate for any shopper to buy it! We shop there all the time.
I guess Mr Purifoy will be having fried baloney, or bologna if you like, for the 4th I commend the store employees courage, but advise against this action.
It’s scum like Purifoy that raises prices for everyone !!!!
Grocery Advantage is a wonderful, community store. The employees are wonderful and courteous to everyone. Shame on this man for pulling a knife. He should have just taken the consequences of his actions. They probably wouldn’t have called the police, just taken the merchandise back and banned him from the store.
First, I am with David… “for better people”.
Good job to the ECSO, this could easily have been another ‘unsolved’ with
a “wanted black man, 40-60 in white shirt”… Glad they caught this man.
I wonder how many times he has ’shopped’ there like this and gotten away?
How much more do we all pay for groceries (where ever we shop) for all those
like this?
Good job ECSO, and to the store employee who did not just ‘overlook’ the theft.
I do not shop at Grocery Advantage, but will go there this afternoon… to spend some $$$ and thank them for taking a stand.
Name (required) for better people (like David) and for better citizens.
Guess he wanted steaks for the Barbee really bad. Glad I don’t shop in there,
I don’t want those steaks. EWWWW!
Now things are much clearer, the story that is posted now is not the same story that was posted early this morning, things are much clearer now how it went from shoplifting to Robbery!!
I wondered what the ECSD aviation division, was up to yesterday afternoon.
REGARDING:
“how does shoplifting and assault w/deadly weapon go from that to Robbery,”
Shop lifting, you lift items while shopping and steal them.
Robbery you take away from someone at knifepoint. (“after he robbed the Grocery Advantage store at knife point.”)
Shoplift: steal from store: to steal something from a shop or store while pretending to shop for goods
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Robbery: theft of property: the act or an instance of illegally taking something that belongs to somebody else, especially by using force, threats, or violence
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
There’s usually a bunch of charges which COULD be brought for any given crime. Pull out a knife and the number rises quickly.
David for better people
Just curious, how does shoplifting and assault w/deadly weapon go from that to Robbery, in any other store where you are trying to lift goods it is shoplifting or at least that is what I’ve seen it reported as? Not making lite of the issue, he deserves what his peers deem justifiable, Just Saying!