GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gainesville police are asking for help in identifying the victim of an armed robbery early Saturday.
Police said Lavonte Cox, 19, Gene Paul, 24, and Laquitta Robinson, 23, were seen by detail officers walking in the area of a recent robbery in the 200 block of Northwest Second Street about 1 a.m. Saturday.
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Police said the three suspects were then seen crouching between vehicles in a parking lot.
The officers watched as the trio approached a woman before suddenly running away, police said.
Police said the suspects were stopped by officers at the Sun Center parking lot after they drove away in Robinson's car. Police said their statements were conflicting.
Officers searched the car and found a 9 mm handgun with a loaded magazine, and a small lip balm tube containing .1 gram of crack cocaine and .5 gram of cannabis.
Police said the three suspects later admitted they drove to the area with intent to commit a robbery and sought out female victims carrying large purses. They also admitted to approaching the unknown woman and robbing her at gunpoint, police said. All three fled when the woman said she had no money and showed them the contents of her purse.
Cox and Paul, who is a convicted felon, further admitted that they each had possession of the firearm, police said. Cox admitted ownership of the crack cocaine, police said, and Robinson was charged with possession of the cannabis.
Cox, Paul and Robinson were taken to jail.
The woman who walked away as the suspects fled has yet to be identified.
She is described as a white woman in her 20s, with brown or brunette hair. She was seen wearing a white knit cap and a black dress or pants.
The suspects said they think the victim walked northbound on Northwest First Street and west on Northwest Third Avenue after the robbery.
Anyone with any information about the victim's identify should call Detective Courtnay Roberts at 352-393-7658 or Crime Stoppers at 352-372-STOP.