Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Denzell Romel Singleton, 31, was arrested on Thursday and charged with two counts of grand theft; Singleton allegedly said he was attacked by a suspect who stole cash from the Hitchcock’s safe in April 2024, but Hitchcock’s bank bags containing $16,000 in cash were later found in his car.

Alachua Police Department initially published an alert on April 2, 2024, stating that they had responded  to a report of an armed robbery at Hitchcock’s Supermarket located at 15560 NW U.S. Hwy 441 in Alachua. The alert continued, “Upon arrival, officers discovered that an unknown male assailant had brandished a firearm to an employee as they were closing the store. The suspect then demanded that the employee open the store’s safe. Under duress, the employee complied with the suspect’s demands, resulting in the theft of a significant sum of money from the safe. It was stated that at some point during the incident, the victim was pistol-whipped prior to the suspect fleeing the scene. The victim sustained minor injuries and was transported to the hospital via ambulance.”

Officers reported that Singleton was found on the ground, “wailing in pain,” but had “no visible injuries,… just a superficial scratch on his face.”

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office sent a K-9 team, which tracked the path taken by the suspect southeast from the entrance of the store and past the pharmacy window; the K-9 showed interest in an older vehicle in a parking spot behind the business and then continued southeast toward a neighborhood.

An officer reported that a large black pistol, a large backpack, black shoes, and other items of clothing were in plain view in the vehicle, and the registration showed that the vehicle belonged to Demetrius Hardaway, who has a felony conviction for armed robbery. Singleton reportedly said the suspect wore dark-colored shoes and dark pants and had a black handgun. The vehicle was towed, and officers requested a search warrant.

Video from inside Hitchcock’s reportedly showed Singleton standing in a dark corner when the suspect approached him; however, an officer noted that Singleton did not appear to be distressed and led the suspect to the money room. The video also reportedly showed that the safe and the store’s front door were open when the suspect entered the store, which is not normal practice.

The video reportedly showed Singleton handing money bags to the suspect, and the suspect only took those bags, although several thousands of dollars were in plain view and were not taken.

An officer reported that when the suspect “pistol-whipped” Singleton, “it did not appear as if he was struck with a great amount of force, or if contact was actually made.” The video showed Singleton “dramatically” crawling across the store and outside before calling 911 “minutes later,” allowing the suspect plenty of time to place the money in the car and escape.

Singleton later called the Alachua Police Department to ask why his vehicle had been seized, and he was told that the registration showed it belonged to someone else and there was probable cause to search it. Singleton reportedly said his brother was the registered owner of the car, but he routinely drives it. However, a search warrant for the vehicle had already been granted.

A search of the vehicle reportedly produced two bank bags with “Hitchcock’s” written on them, inside the black backpack. The bags were still locked and appeared to be full of cash. A Hitchcock’s store manager unlocked the bags, and they reportedly contained $16,310 in cash from the store’s safe.

Other items in the same backpack had Singleton’s name on them, confirming that it was his backpack.

Singleton was asked to come to the police department for an interview, and he reportedly arrived wearing dark sunglasses and limping, with a cane. The officer noted that this seemed “dramatic” because the events in the video “did not match the level of injury [Singleton] was reporting.”

Post Miranda, Singleton reportedly said he didn’t know what the money bags were, even though they were labeled “Hitchcock’s.” He denied any involvement with the crime and reportedly could not explain why the money was found in his car.

An officer told him that it appeared he conspired with the robbery suspect to steal the money and noted that at the time of the robbery, Singleton was working alone and a cash drop had not been made in days because it was a holiday weekend. The officer reported that Singleton did not “provide any defense or provide an explanation to the contrary.”

The officer reported that Singleton said his eyes were sensitive to the light from being “pistol-whipped” and that he had severe headaches, but he reportedly said he had not been told by a doctor that he had any injuries.

Singleton reportedly consented to a search of his phone, and the officer noted that some text conversations or parts of text conversations appeared to have been deleted. One text conversation reportedly showed Singleton asking someone if he could get a haircut, and when asked why he would communicate about “something so mundane, such as a haircut” when he was badly injured, Singleton reportedly had no response.

A forensic search of the phone reportedly showed that activity in the phone seemed to have been deleted around the time of the crime, although there was a “plethora” of activity before the incident.

The other suspect is listed as “unknown” in the October 2024 sworn complaint.

Singleton has been charged with two counts of grand theft over $10,000. He has 10 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent). Judge William Davis set bail at $25,000 in the warrant for Singleton’s arrest.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.