Florida Man Returns to Rob Same Store That Landed Him in Prison
Nine years ago when he was a 48-year-old Palm Coast resident, Fountain walked into the Flagler Beach Publix store off State Road 100 just before the bridge, went to the service desk up front, lifted his shirt to expose the butt of a gun, gave the clerk a bag, and told the clerk to put all the money in the bag. He got $2,667 and ran out. He used some of the the money to pay overdue power bills and cable bills and tried to stave off foreclosure after falling behind on his $750-a-month mortgage payments. (The property was eventually foreclosed.)
A Flagler Beach police investigation caught up with him. He was on probation for grand theft at the time. He was found guilty of the Publix robbery, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years on probation. He was released from state prison in early 2020. His probation was set to expire in a few weeks.
On Tuesday, Fountain, now 57 and a resident of Flagler Beach, walked into the same Publix at a little after noon–roughly the same time when he'd committed his robbery in 2015–wearing a Beatles t-shirt on top of a gray shirt, light-colored shorts and a camouflage hat, went to the same service desk, gave the clerk a Publix bag and said: "Quickly and quietly, put the money in the bag from the register."
This time the clerk, a 20-year-old woman, told Fountain that she needed a manager's permission to access the cash. He told her she was lying. She turned the computer screen his way to prove that she couldn't log in. What he hadn't seen was the clerk's quick and smart moves moments earlier, when she'd managed to log herself out. Just then another customer walked up and stood behind Fountain. He grabbed the bag and ran out. As authorities were investigating, they learned of a similar-style robbery attempt at the Publix in Palm Coast's Town Center. The surveillance footage there revealed that the person wore similar clothing, but that the dark Beatles shirt may have been worn inside-out. The gray shirt was still visible under the Beatles shirt.
Flagler Beach police sent surveillance footage to the Flagler County Sheriff's Real Time Crime Center, whose facial recognition software matched up the images with Fountain. A detective went to his home at 2474 North Oceanshore Boulevard, where he was living with a roommate. The roommate described to the detective what Fountain was wearing that day. The clothing matched what authorities had seen in the surveillance footage at the stores. The roommate also told the detective that Fountain was due back with money to pay the utility bills.
Fountain was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted robbery, a second degree felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years, and held at the Flagler County jail on $25,00 bond on that charge, and on no bond on the probation violation.
