Sex Offender Back Behind Bars After Armed Robbery

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — A 27-year-old registered sex offender is back behind bars after New Port Richey Police say he held up a store clerk at knifepoint just weeks after his release from prison.

The incident that led to John McCarthy’s arrest began to unfold around 5:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29. Police say a man walked into the Boost Mobile store at 6318 U.S. 19 N. and asked about buying a cellphone.

The female clerk went into the back of the store to find the phone the man asked about, an email from the police department said. While she was gone, the man is accused of locking the front door to the store. When the clerk returned, the man “grabbed her by the hair and held a knife to her throat and pinned her against the wall,” the email said.

The clerk attempted to push away from her attacker, police said, but cut her hands on the knife. The man is the accused of demanding cash after the struggle. The clerk, police said, gave him an undisclosed amount of money.

Keep up with what's happening by following New Port Richey Patch on Facebook.

The man reportedly fled the store without further incident, but left a clue to his identity behind. Inside a garbage can, detectives found a receipt from a nearby Dollar General Store. That receipt contained Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) information.

With the help of Dollar General, investigators were able to obtain video and began tracing who the EBT card belong to. That trace led them to the home address McCarthy listed when he was released from prison on Dec. 14, 2016, the email noted.

McCarthy, however, was not at the Niagara Drive home in Port Richey. Police say residents at the address had not seen him there in days.

McCarthy was eventually tracked to a home in the 6600 block of Bandura Drive in New Port Richey. “During questioning, he admitted to the robbery saying he was hungry and needed the money,” the email said. The clerk was also able to positively identify McCarthy as her attacker, police noted.

McCarthy was booked into the Pasco County Jail on armed robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping while committing a felony and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charges, police said. He also faces possible charges for failing to notify authorities within 48 hours of moving from the Niagara Drive address. McCarthy was being held at the Pasco County Jail on Tuesday.

State records indicate that McCarthy was convicted on a sexual battery charge in 2013.

Photo courtesy of the New Port Richey Police Department