Bradenton man sentenced in robbery. He did it with a kid toy, prosecutors say
.jpg "Deputies say Antwan Terrell Glover, 41, used a toy Nerf gun in a Popeyes robbery before receiving a 15-year prison sentence, according to court records.")
A Bradenton man is set to spend more than a decade in prison after deputies said he held up a Popeyes restaurant with a toy Nerf gun.
Circuit Judge Frederick Mercurio sentenced 41-year-old Antwan Terrell Glover after he pleaded no contest to robbery while wearing a mask, according to court records. Prosecutors said Glover entered the Popeyes at 11840 State Road 64 East in Lakewood Ranch during the early morning hours of Jan. 20 and forced two workers to hand over cash from the registers.
An attorney representing Glover did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
According to the arrest report, the store manager first saw a man on surveillance cameras as he tried to open the restaurant’s locked doors on Jan. 19. The manager stepped outside to retrieve his personal firearm from his vehicle when the masked suspect came from behind a dumpster and pointed what looked like a short-barreled shotgun at him. Deputies said the man had a black shirt pulled over his face, leaving only his eyes visible.
Bradenton man gets prison in toy gun robbery
Deputies later found the weapon in a water-filled ditch near the restaurant and said it was a black and orange Rival Nerf gun wrapped in a grocery bag. Nerf guns are kids toys that fire foam projectiles, not actual bullets.
Prosecutors said a second employee saw the confrontation on the restaurant’s video monitors and opened the back door in an attempt to intervene. The suspect pushed past her and forced his way into the store.
Once inside, he demanded that the manager open the safe, but the manager told him he could not open it after hours . Prosecutors said the suspect then ordered the manager to open the registers.
The second employee sat on a shelf after being told to get on the ground but escaped out the front door while the robbery continued. The affidavit states the suspect received about $100 from the register before running out the back of the building.
Deputies said they set a perimeter and detained a man on a bicycle in the nearby Eagle Trace neighborhood who matched the suspect’s description. Deputies said a K9 track from the restaurant also led to the same area.
The arrest report notes Glover did not provide a credible explanation for why he was in the area or why he was missing his shoes and wet from the pants down when deputies found him. Deputies arrested Glover after the interview, according to court records.
Court records show Glover received 163 days of credit for time served.
