Man arrested for robbery

A 72-year-old Big Pine Key man was arrested Thursday for grabbing a woman and robbing her on the side of the road.

Mark William Schmidt was charged with robbery.

Deputies Anthony Buscemi and Nick Galbo went to the Tom Thumb store on Big Pine Key at approximately 9:40 p.m. to assist two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers who were with two females.

The women stated they were stopped at U.S. 1 and Chapman Street to let their dogs out when a man, later identified as Schmidt, approached them on a bicycle. Schmidt was yelling at them and grabbed one of the women by the arm and ripped off her fanny pack. The woman suffered bruising and cuts to her arm.

Schmidt removed $500 in cash, an iPhone, a Louis Vuitton wallet and the woman’s ID from the fanny pack. He then rode away.

The Deputies and FWC Officers began looking for Schmidt. He was found nearby. The women identified him as the suspect.

Schmidt was taken to jail.

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