A homeless man was arrested by Holmes Beach police for punching a female store clerk after she identified him by a tattoo on his neck.
Jason Bounds was arrested April 17 for battery and resisting a merchant after Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach police officers connected him to the incident.
The charges stem from 8:45 p.m. March 22, when Bounds allegedly entered Jessie’s Island Store, 5424 Marina Drive, and concealed a beer, a pint of milk and 10 cheese and beef sticks in his jacket.
The store clerk confronted the man and he returned the items.
The clerk told him to leave or she would call police and when he didn’t immediately leave, she reached for the phone.
That’s when Bounds allegedly punched the clerk in the head and stomach.
EMS responded and treated the clerk.
Bounds could not be found by Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies and K-9s that night.
Holmes Beach Detective Sgt. Brian Hall said a “good clear video,” a cellphone found near the store after the incident and Bounds’ April 14 arrest in Bradenton Beach led to solving the case.
At press time, Bounds was in custody at the Manatee County jail, assigned a $3,000 bond.
He was arrested for the incident while in the jail, having been arrested three days earlier on battery and obstruction charges for striking a groundskeeper in Bradenton Beach.
For the Bradenton Beach incident, he was assigned a $1,000 bond.
His arraignments are set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, May 17, and 9 a.m. Friday, May 18, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.