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Hernando Today

Hitching A Ride Has Hitches

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: May 6, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Warning: Giving out rides to strangers — or refusing to pick them up — can be a dangerous undertaking.
In the former case, an elderly woman was allegedly robbed of $800 when she gave a shoplifting suspect a ride home Friday afternoon. The suspect, Steven Plotner, reportedly told her he had just been jumped.
Plotner, 28, of 1028 Embassy Ave., was escaping from a loss prevention officer who confronted him about the shorts and T-shirts he had just stolen from the Beall's Outlet store on Cortez Boulevard, a report states.
Deputies tracked him down to a house on Lowell Avenue, but Plotner hopped a fence and escaped when he saw deputies pull up, a report states.
He later turned himself in at a 7-Eleven and was charged with retail theft and resisting a merchant. The alleged theft is still under investigation.
In an unrelated case early Sunday morning, a group of friends were threatened with a pistol when they refused to give some strangers a ride home.
The men made their demands in the Knights of Columbus parking lot on Spring Hill Drive and fired a shot over the heads of two teenagers trying to walk away.
As soon as the shot was fired, the suspects ran west on Spring Hill Drive, but deputies circling the area found them. The weapon, a .380 caliber pistol, was recovered near the area where the suspects were arrested.
The alleged shooter, Randolf Ebisch, 26, of 7418 Cherokee Trail, was charged with aggravated assault; David Mojica, 28, of 7400 Spring Hill Drive, was charged as an accessory.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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