A shirtless man accused of robbing three gas stations in a matter of four hours is in jail.
George Keene Jr. was booked into jail around 7 p.m. Thursday night. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is not confirming the identity of the suspect, but Action News Jax found Keene on the state sex offender registry.
The Kangaroo on New Kings Road, the Gate gas station on New Kings Road and the Speedway gas station on Normandy Boulevard were all robbed within hours of each other and now Keene is behind bars.
“It's very good that he's off the streets fast because he could have continued on a crime spree and elevated each time. He could've committed a robbery, committed to sexual battery, could've shot and killed somebody,” Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said.
In 2005, Keene was accused of robbing a convenience store and committing sexual battery on the clerk after he forced her into her car.
Jefferson said he shouldn’t have been back on the streets.
“That was only 11 years ago. My question is why wasn't he still in jail for an armed robbery and a sexual battery if he was convicted of that,” Jefferson said.
Action News Jax also found out he has more than 20 offenses on his record with charges ranging from civil traffic to domestic violence.
And he’s seen going into those gas stations, shirtless, without even trying to conceal his identity.
“He was very careless because he has no shirt on, he has distinguishable tattoos written all over his body so that lets me know in my opinion he was not of sound mind when he was committing these robberies,” Jefferson said.
Action News Jax reached out to JSO to get more details on Keene’s recent arrest, but they are not releasing more information to protect the investigation.
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