Woman IDs bat-wielding robber
A Fort Wayne man accused of entering a north-side home and robbing a woman while armed with a plastic baseball bat in August was formally charged Monday.
Larry Robinson, 27, of the 4400 block of Sanford Lane, is charged with burglary, robbery and criminal confinement after his photo was picked out of an array by the robbery victim in August.
Robinson had not been arrested as of Tuesday night.
Fort Wayne police were called to the woman’s home in the 2300 block of Leroy Avenue about 9 p.m. Aug. 20. She told police she took her trash out earlier that evening and left her garage door open because she usually rides her bicycle at night. She was in her house grading papers when about 8:55 p.m. she heard footsteps in the kitchen.
She said at first she was not concerned because she thought it was her son. Then she saw a man come from the kitchen into the front room where she was sitting. The man was holding a black plastic baseball bat, described as a “Wiffle Ball bat” she recognized from her own garage. The man pushed her into a chair with the thick end of the bat and told her if she did not want to get hurt to give him money, the report said.
The woman told the robber she did not have any money. The man then picked up her purse and began looking through it. When he picked up the purse, the woman ran for the front door and began yelling for help, the report said.
The man grabbed at her and pulled her back in the house. He dragged her toward a staircase, pushed her down onto the stairs and again told her told to give him money, the report said.
The woman told him to check the purse again but said she had only $5. The robber dumped out the purse and took the wallet, which had the $5, several credit cards, her driver’s license and two keys.
The robber left through the kitchen, but the woman did not see which direction he went. Police found the plastic bat near the house, the report said.
The woman had a scrape on her left leg and complained of pain on her face. She said she might have received the scrape after being at the door.
She told police she couldn’t be positive but thought she might have been hit in the face when the man pushed her onto the stairs. She declined medical treatment from paramedics, the report said.
Later in August, the woman contacted detectives and said she had seen the robber’s photo in a list in the newspaper. Detectives showed the woman a photo array in September and she identified Robinson as the robber, court documents said.
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