Big Pine man arrested for robbery

Ramrod key – A Big Pine Key man was arrested after he told the clerk at Boondock’s gift shop he wanted all the money in her cash register.

Several employees of Boondock’s on Ramrod Key told Deputy Chris Fraser 67 year old Gary Griesinger was acting very strangely Wednesday evening. They said when he drove up at about 7:20 p.m. , he sat in his car flashing it’s lights repeatedly for about 15 minutes. A server said while she was waiting on him  he was making “strange and inappropriate” things and acting very oddly.

The server said he got up and walked into the gift shop. She said she watched him through the window and saw him talking with the clerk, then saw the clerk turn “ghost white”. She walked in to check on the situation and the clerk handed her a note, telling her Griesinger had asked for all the money from the till.

The server told the manager, who called the Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies arrived, Griesinger was still in the gift shop. They took him into custody. During the arrest, he refused to cooperate with the deputies orders to put his hands behind his back. He was charged with robbery and resisting arrest and he was booked into jail.

During the arrest, Griesinger kept coughing; he later told deputies he had “infectious pneumonia” and it was his “gift” to the deputies and detention deputies.