SPRING HILL, Fla. – A Florida man is facing a list of charges after deputies said he attacked several people, punching them at random.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that its deputies were called to the Mid-Florida Credit Union in Spring Hill just before noon on Monday. When deputies arrived, they met with a female victim, who said that as she left the credit union and was walking to her car, a man walked by and punched her in the forehead. The victim said she had never seen her attacker, who did not speak to her before hitting her and continued walking out of the parking lot after the attack. Deputies described the victim as having a “swollen contusion” on her forehead.
Deputies identified the suspect as Devin Wilbanks, and said that after he left the credit union’s parking lot, he went to a nearby Circle K. An employee at the Circle K called 911 and said that a man was inside the store “hitting people,” deputies said in the news release.
An employee of the store, who was bleeding from his forehead, face and mouth, told deputies that Wilbanks came into the store and was “swinging his fists” at a female employee and tried to hit several customers. The employee said that Wilbanks then went behind the counter and “cornered” two employees.
When the injured employee tried to intervene and restrain Wilbanks, the suspect broke free and began punching displays in the store. Deputies said Wilbanks then punched a female customer in the face and put her in a chokehold. The male employee again intervened and was hit in the face, deputies said.
Deputies said that after leaving the Circle K, Wilbanks walked up to a man who was sitting in the driveway of his home and punched him in the face. The victim told officers that he did not know Wilbanks and had assumed the man was approaching him to ask for directions.
Deputies said they found Wilbanks at a bus stop near the library and arrested him. Detectives said Wilbanks was not cooperative and refused to offer a statement or motive for the attacks.
Wilbanks is facing additional charges after deputies said that video surveillance from the area where the attacks took place showed him stealing from a car.
