Century man pulls a gun on alleged shoplifters; arrested

Rose accused of felony charges after encounter at Dollar General

A Century man who allegedly held a couple at gunpoint outside a retail store was arrested Feb. 10 and faces multiple felony charges, aggravated assault including false imprisonment, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and reckless display of a firearm.

Edward Joseph Rose, 41, 2960 Highway 4A, was involved in a loud verbal argument with a group of people standing in front of Dollar General at 7731 North Century Boulevard when deputies responded in reference to an armed disturbance, according to an Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff's Officer report.

Rose told the officers he was shopping in side the store when he heard screams about a woman stealing from the store. Rose said he exited the store and followed the woman, later identified as Karissa Lee Carroll, and her boyfriend, Christopher Michael Hodges, out to the side walk to the front of the store, the report said.

Rose said he pulled out his concealed firearm but did not remove it from the holster and yelled at Carroll and Hodges to stop, then demanded they return to the store to await law enforcement.

Rose was then detained in handcuffs in the rear of the officer's patrol car, according to the report.

When the deputy made contact with the store manager, Sarah Ashley Long, she state Carroll came to the front of the store and paid for all the items she had. Long said she observed Hodges out side the store in front of the entrance. She said she went out to tell Hodges he needed to leave due to previous encounters and that she was calling law enforcement. Long said at that same time, Carroll was exiting the store with a group of people which triggered the anti-theft alarm at the front door, the report said.

Long stated she did not need law enforcement any more because she did not suspect Carroll of shoplifting and Hodges left the area. She said she then saw Rose follow aCarroll and Hodges to the sidewalk where he began yelling at them to stop and return to the store, which they both did, Long said.

The deputy spoke to Carroll, who said after she paid for her items and walked out of the store to meet Hodges, she heard someone yelling at them to stop, the report said. She turned around and saw Rose with a silver firearm pointed at her, telling her she needed to return to the store and wait for law enforcement. She said she was afraid Rose would shoot her so she complied with his demand to return to the store.

The report said Hodges corroborated Carroll's story when the deputy spoke to him.

Two other witnesses, Joshua Ryan Hardy and Henry Christopher Lee-Powell, both corroborated Carrolls's statement. All four witnesses saw the silver firearm used by Rose.

The officer retrieved the firearm from Rose's vehicle. It was a silver Rossi M38.38 special revolver loaded with five cartridges of .38 special ammunition holstered in a brown leather holster. The report noted the serial number had apparent scratch marks as if someone was to scratch out the serial number, although the serial number was still legible, the report said.

Animal control responded to the scene and took possession of a service dog Rose had.

Rose was arrested and transported to the Escambia County Jail where he was charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two felony counts of false imprisonment, one count felony possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count reckless display of a firearm. His total bond was set at $26,000.

 
 
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