JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man who is believed to have robbed several parents with their young children nearby is the focus of an intense police investigation.
Police said all three robberies were committed Monday night in nearby streets in the Mandarin area. The first incident happened on San Jose Road at 8:27 p.m., the second on Old St. Augustine Road at 8:50 p.m., and the last on Claire Lane at 9:45 p.m.
"As I'm going to put my key in my lock, I hear a man's voice," said one victim who asked to only be identified as Catherine. "I dropped to my knees, covered my son and threw my wallet out and said, 'Take it.'"
The robber struck as she was walking into her apartment.
"As a woman you want to think that, 'Oh, I would do this or I would be the tough one to take,' but when you have your kid with you, you just freeze. You can't do anything," Catherine said.
She was not the only victim Monday night in what police said they suspect was a Mandarin crime spree by the one person.
The same thing happened to a grandmother who was returning home with her 9-year-old grandson, and then at a nearby Mandarin church two men were robbed after the man pointed a gun at one of their 11-year-old sons.
"It looked like he targeted persons that the victim would not want to jeopardize their safety with. You have a 9-year-old, an 11-year-old and an infant child," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.
Catherine said she wonders if the robber would return.
"That's why we've been concerned, he got some credit cards he won't be able to use and not much cash on them at all," she said.
Catherine said she moved to Mandarin a few months ago thinking it was a safe place to live, but after Monday night, she's thinking again.
"I didn't know if he was crazy enough to shoot me or my son. I've never been in a situation like that before, not in a neighborhood like this. You just don't expect it," Catherine said.