Punta Gorda Circle K robber sentenced to 15 years in prison

Richard Dickman was sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender to 15 years in prison Tuesday for one count of Robbery and one count of False Imprisonment in Charlotte County.

Dickman robbed a Circle K just after midnight in May 2017. He claimed to have a gun under his shirt and demanded the clerk to give him all the money in the cash drawer.

The defendant then made the clerk go into the bathroom, took his cellphone, and told him to stay there for ten minutes. When the clerk came out, Dickman was gone.

He was identified by a surveillance video from the store which showed a tattoo on his neck.

There was also a sweatshirt recovered near the store that matched the one seen in the surveillance video being worn by the robber. Dickman’s DNA was found on the sweatshirt.

A tip led U.S. Marshals to an area outside Irving, California, in August, 2017, where Dickman was taken in custody and extradited to Charlotte County.

Assistant State Attorney Garrick Soja handled the case.