JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man suspected in a robbery and attempted robbery outside two Jacksonville Walmart stores and a Publix supermarket has been arrested.
Police released surveillance images of a man, later identified as James Randall Gordon Jr., who they said stole a bag from a 78-year-old man outside a Westside Walmart and injured a 62-year-old woman at a Southside Walmart when he tried to snatch her purse.
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A woman who saw news reports about the thief called News4Jax to say she believed that same man stole her purse while she was shopping in a Publix.
She asked not to be named because she believes the man might know where she lives.
Police said Gordon, pictured in surveillance images at a Normandy Boulevard store near I-295 about 10:40 p.m. June 28, ran up behind a customer in the parking lot, grabbed a bag out of his hand and ran off. The victim's checkbook was in the bag.
On Monday at 11:30 p.m., a 62-year-old woman was putting groceries in her car outside a Southside Walmart near the intersection of Beach and Southside boulevards when a man ran up behind her and grabbed her purse.
The purse snagged the woman's arm, and the suspect threw her to the ground, breaking her hand, police said. The suspect ran off and did not get the purse.
Police released these surveillance photos which they said show Gordon.
After seeing the man's image in the news, a Jacksonville mother reported that she believes the same man grabbed her purse while she was looking at candles in an aisle at the Town Center Publix.
“I just turned around, and I saw an arm grabbing my purse, so I started running up to the front of the store, but he beat me out,” she said.
She filed a police report listing everything in her purse that was stolen, including credit cards, her driver’s license and a cellphone -- items the man could use to find out where she lives.
“There’s just fear. There’s a lot of fear,” the woman said.
She said she called the grocery store about the news report, and a manager who reviewed the surveillance video told her that he also believes it was the same man involved in the Walmart incidents.
“This person didn’t have any filter. He didn’t care,” the woman said of the accused thief. “I felt safe in a store. I felt safe with a lot of people around. That didn’t make a difference.”
She advised other women to carry their purses and not leave them in a cart while they shop.