My Desultory Blog

SEFFNER, Florida — The beating was brutal; 71-year-old Hasimbhai Indawala was punched over and over again in the face and head, but that isn’t the way the robbery ended.

It all started at U.S. 92 Food Mart in Seffner around 8 p.m. Monday. Two men walked in. One went to the counter and grabbed Indawala by the shirt, while the other went behind the counter with a knife to physically subdue him.

They demanded Indawala open the register, and he did. But the thugs weren’t satisfied with the cash. They beat the elderly clerk senseless, sending him to Tampa General Hospital’s Trauma Unit.

The store is owned by the Indawala family. The victim’s son has taken his father’s place behind the counter. He is too emotional to speak to 10 News, but his customers aren’t.

“They should be dead,” one customer told 10 News, referring to the two crooks.

The Cerritos family rents space next door for their car wash. They left for the day one hour before the attack. “It’s pathetic what they did to him, just horrible,” said Carla Cerritos.

Cops call these two crooks stupid — stupid for being so arrogant, clearly showing their faces while the cameras roll, capturing every movement, every punch. It’s what cops say will be their undoing when someone recognizes them and rats them out.

Update: Two men suspected in a crime spree after walking away from a Wisconsin correctional center have been arrested in Broward County. They are suspected of beating an elderly store clerk in Seffner earlier this week, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The Seminole Police Department said James Newman and James Misleveck were arrested after a chase in Hollywood, Fla., early Wednesday. Dispatcher Paige Gutierrez says they are being held in the Broward County Jail.

Authorities said the men stole a shotgun after fleeing from the Black River boot camp July 17, stole several vehicles and kidnapped and robbed a woman at a Black River Falls casino.

Jackson County sheriff’s officials said the two commandeered the woman’s SUV and forced her into the back seat at gunpoint. They drove to Tomah, then Sparta, where the men stole a pickup truck, authorities said. At some point, the woman escaped.

The men were spotted in a parking ramp at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the same black Chrysler Concorde they stole last week from Juneau Road south of Tomah, according to authorities.

When police tried to stop their car, the men drove away and led officers on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood, police said.

Police said the men then stopped the car and ran from officers. James Misleveck tried to climb a fence, but officers caught him before he could go over, according to police.

Police said James Newman climbed a tree and was eventually surrounded by police. He then jumped out of the tree and tried to run again, but was taken down by a police dog, according to the Seminole Police Department.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/237973/57/Store-Clerk-Severely-Beaten-During-Robbery