MAN ROBBED OF DRUG MONEY REPORTS IT TO POLICE

A young man who was robbed of $1,700 Saturday had a hard time reporting it
to police -- because he was selling illegal drugs when a "customer" pulled
a gun on him and took the money. He did not tell a police officer who was
nearby right after it happened, and he waited nearly two hours before going
to a law enforcement agency to file a complaint.

Police say the 21-year-old was doing a drug deal when he got robbed and he
didn't report it because he was afraid.

It happened in the parking lot of the West End Market on W. Broad St.
sometime between 5 p.m. and 6:48 p.m. Saturday, according to a report by
Cookeville Police Officer Tammy Goolsby.

The victim, who lives on Cookeville Boat Dock Road, showed up at the Putnam
Sheriff's office on Saturday night and said he'd been robbed "an hour and a
half ago," the report says.

Someone at the Sheriff's Dept. notified the Cookeville Police Dept. because
the location of the crime being reported is inside the city limits.

Officer Goolsby went to take a report and was surprised to find that the
young man she had seen earlier in the West End Market parking lot was now
reporting that he had been robbed there.

"The complainant stated he was robbed at 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of
West End Market," Officer Goolsby's report says.

"I was in that parking lot at 5:39 p.m. and parked my vehicle behind the
victim's vehicle and sat in the parking lot for about 15 minutes and
observed the complainant and another white male walking around the
complainant's vehicle."

The officer said she had watched as the complainant bought a soft drink out
of a machine and drank it. A while later after she had left the parking lot
and was driving by the area again, she noticed him talking on the pay
phone, she said.

At no time did the complainant notify her he had been robbed, she said, and
when he showed up later and reported that "a black male had pulled a
handgun on him" and stole $1,700 cash from him, the officer asked him if he
had seen her patrol car while he was in the store parking lot.

"He stated yes, he had seen me parked behind him," the officer said. "He
said the robbery had already occurred when I arrived. When asked why he did
not notify me, he stated he was scared, he didn't know what to do."

The complainant had sent a friend to look for the black male, and he had
then called his mother, who told him to go to the Sheriff's Dept., he told
Officer Goolsby.

"After more questioning, (the complainant) stated he had met (name not
disclosed by police) at the store earlier in the day and arranged a drug
buy to take place around 5:30 p.m.," the report says.

"He stated he had a large amount of cash on him at (the time the
arrangement was made) and that he might have flashed a wad of cash to where
(name not disclosed by police) could have seen it or he might have only
showed him the money for the marijuana he was to purchase."

The robber who took the alleged drug dealer's money was described as a
black male, about six ft. tall, slim, weighing about 160 pounds. He was
wearing a long sleeved Mickey Mouse shirt and blue jeans.

The robber had demanded that the young man give him the money, and when he
did not do so, the robber pulled a gun and took the money, the report says.

The case remains under investigation.

No charges were filed against the robbery victim.