Bic Bandit Captured by Clearwater Police, Suspect Charged with Robbery
An arrest has been made in what Clearwater Police were calling the case of the Bic Bandit.
Clearwater Police detectives were seeking the public’s help to identify a man who has stolen a stash of lighters four times within a month from the same convenience store.
The most recent crime occurred Tuesday, June 22, 2018. All of the incidents occurred at the 7-Eleven at 657 Court St.
In each case, the suspect entered the store and spends a very short time there. He then grabs a display full of lighters – one time as many as 50 were taken – and runs out the door. One time he was seen getting on a red bicycle; another time he ran from the scene.
Norris Thompson, age 54, was identified and charged in this case on June 26, 2018 at approximately 3:50 p.m.
Thompson is facing robbery charges in the shoplifting incident that occurred on May 23, 2018. The clerk at the 7-Eleven went out of the store to retrieve the lighters as Thompson was leaving the scene. Thompson reportedly told the clerk, “I’ve been to prison man, I got a knife and I’ll slice you up.”
Thompson who is listed as a transient in the area was positively identified in photo line-up by the victim, according to the arrest affidavit.
At the time he was identified, Thompson was already incarcerated at the Pinellas County Jail following a June 19, 2018 arrest. On that date, Thompson reportedly walked out of the Publix Supermarket at 619 S. Ft. Harrison Avenue with $90 of frozen shrimp without paying. He was already out on bail at the time on an unrelated theft.