Manatee deputies arrest man after two Circle K stores robbed with sawed-off shotgun

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday a suspect in the September robbery of two Bradenton Circle K convenience stores has been arrested.

The second robbery happened at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 23 the Circle K store in the 900 block of 30th Avenue East. A middle-aged man pulled what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun on the clerk and demanded cash from the register, the sheriff’s report said at the time. He took the cash and fled on a “beach cruiser style bicycle,” the report said.

He was also believed to be the same person who on Sept. 16 pulled out a “long gun” to rob the Circle K convenience store in the 3000 block of First Street West. No one was injured in either robbery.

Surveillance video captured both armed robberies, the sheriff’s office said, with witnesses giving the same description for both suspects.

Investigators found probable cause to arrest William Prince, 42, and charge him with armed robbery on Wednesday, a sheriff’s news release said. He is being held without bond.

Armed robbery is a first-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, according to Florida statute 812.13-2A.