Robber, 'Acting Crazy,' Threw Cash Into The Air: Cops

LAKELAND, FL — A 40-year-old Lakeland man with a long criminal history faces more charges after police say he went on an usual robbery spree Tuesday that ended with his hospitalization.

According to the Lakeland Police Department, officers were called out to the Save-A-Lot at 2021 George Jenkins Blvd., just before 6:45 p.m. March 7. When they arrived, they learned that a man had entered the store, reached over the counter while the clerk was helping another customer and helped himself to cash.

With cash in hand, the man walked quickly toward the door, but “stopped and unexpectedly sat down on a display stack of bottled water,” a Wednesday email from the police department said. At that point, the man started throwing money into the air while one of the store’s employees tried to grab it. The employee was pushed away, the email said. The robber then bent down and grabbed some of the cash off the floor before running out the doors.

Police say the same man then walked into a nearby Subway restaurant and asked for water. Employees say the man was “acting crazy” and threatened to kill them, the email noted. Consequently, the man was asked to leave. When he did, police say he went into a nearby CVS, helped himself to a Coke without paying and began “speaking loudly and belligerently,” the email said.

CVS employees later told police the man was “disheveled and possibly chemically impaired.” He left the store, returned to grab some makeup and again left without paying, the email said.

It wasn’t long after the initial call that Officer Jeremy Williams spotted the man employees at the stores had described. He was in the intersection of Wabash Avenue and George Jenkins Boulevard. When approached by Williams, the man reportedly sat down on the median and refused to answer any questions. Williams called for backup and stepped behind the man to stop him from leaving before it arrived, the email said.

At that point, police say the man grabbed Williams and began actively resisting. When backup arrived, a taser had to be used to bring the man into custody, the email added. The man kept resisting “by trying to turn over, screaming and not complying with officers’ commands,” the email said.

After the man was brought under control and officers were searching his pockets, they say he became unresponsive. Lifesaving measures were taken and the man was transported to Lakeland Regional Health. Police now say the man, identified as Shavenski Green, faces robbery and resisting arrest charges. He remained in the hospital Wednesday in stable condition, the email noted.

Green, police said, has a lengthy arrest record that includes 20 felony and 34 misdemeanor charges. Past arrests have included possession and sale of cocaine, aggravated battery on a police officer, aggravated battery on a firefighter and carrying a concealed weapon.

Once Green is given clearance from the hospital, he will be booked into the Polk County Jail.

No further information is available at this time.

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