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Bank robber shoots at St. Pete officer, crashes car and gets arrested

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Posted at 1:14 PM, Aug 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-06 17:55:06-04

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A St. Pete police officer is OK and was not injured after a bank robber shot at the officer on Thursday.

Police said around 10:50 a.m., a man robbed the Mid Florida Credit Union at 2646 4th St. N. He left the area in a Toyota Corolla with an undisclosed amount of money.

An officer spotted the car and tried to initiate a traffic stop. The suspect pointed a gun at the officer and did not stop.

The officer followed and the suspect fired at least once at the officer.

The bullet missed the officer and hit a work van that was passing in the area.

Police said no one was hurt.

The Toyota crashed on 22nd Avenue North near the I-275 ramp. It was a single-vehicle crash and no other vehicles were involved.

Police took the suspect into custody. He was later identified as Charles Combs.

Combs is facing two attempted murder charges, fleeing and eluding a police officer, leaving the scene of a crash, reckless driving with property damage or injury, felony in possession of a firearm and three robbery with a weapon charges.

The three robbery charges are from the following banks:

  • MIDFlorida Credit Union (2646 4 ST N) on August 6, 2020
  • MIDFlorida Credit Union (2646 4 ST N) on July 7, 2020
  • American Momentum Bank (5858 Central) on June 23, 2020

This is an ongoing investigation.

This is a developing story, get the latest updates with ABC Action News