A Central Florida man was sentenced Wednesday for a series of crimes committed on the same day in Ocala in 2022.
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A Marion County jury convicted 45-year-old Rocco Gelonese on Jan. 12 of a list of charges prosecutors described as “alarming.”
The investigation began back on August 7, 2022 when Ocala police officers responded to the Paddock Mall for reports of a robbery.
The first officer on scene spoke to employees of a JCPenney store who said a man, later identified as Gelonese, stole several items of infant clothing and shoes from the store valued at $454. After the theft, the employees said Gelonese ran out of the store towards State Road 200.
Later, officers responded to Logan’s Roadhouse on SW 19th Ave. for reports of another robbery. Officers spoke to the victims who said they were in a van and had just entered the Paddock Mall parking lot in front of JCPenney when a man ran up to their van, entered through the rear passenger-side sliding door, and yelled at them to “drive or I will shoot you!”