Two arrested after attempted robbery in Lake Butler
Published: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:53 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:53 a.m.
Two men have been arrested on charges of trying to steal prescription pills from a Lake Butler woman’s home Monday evening.
The woman told the Union County Sheriff’s Office that a man wearing a mask and a hooded sweatshirt was carrying a handgun when he entered her home and demanded drugs. Investigators said the woman scared the intruder off and then called for help.
A Florida Department of Corrections K9 team from the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler followed a track from the woman’s home for a few blocks to where the dogs found John W. Smith, 26, of Lake Butler.
Deputies said that while Smith was being questioned about the incident, investigators determined he had helped another man commit the attempted robbery.
Investigators from the sheriff’s offices in Union and Bradford counties along with the K9 team and officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission went to a home on Northwest 127th Street in Bradford County, where they found the man alleged to be the intruder.
He was identified as 28-year-old Shawn Michael Gibson. A gun believed to have been used in the robbery attempt also was recovered, said Lt. Lyn Williams of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Gibson was charged with attempted armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Smith was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.
Gibson and Smith were being held Tuesday at the Union County jail.
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