Cops: Hurricane Looters Hit Trump Merch Store

 

SEPTEMBER 30--As Hurricane Helene battered a Florida city covered by a state of emergency declaration, two men allegedly burglarized a “Trump Store” stocked with merchandise promoting the ex-president, according to cops who say one of the alleged looters was wearing a “Trump cowboy hat” when busted.

On Friday evening, investigators patrolling a closed-off section of Madeira Beach, a city in the Tampa Bay area, discovered two men loitering outside a closed business plaza whose tenants include a realtor, a gift shop selling crystals and shark teeth, and the Trump store.

The Trump outlet stocks a variety of “Trump 2024” banners and stickers, “Fight, Fight, Fight” t-shirts, and classic “Let’s Go Brandon” and “Fuck Your Feelings” products.

When police approached the pair, they were in possession of merchandise that matched items sold in the Trump store, which “was unsecured due to damages from the storm.”

One of the suspects, Lance Petrisevac, 57, was wearing a “Trump cowboy hat” that he claimed “ended up in his possession” after it “washed up from the hurricane.”

Petrisevac was accompanied by John Peters, 61, who, cops say, “was in possession of a ‘Trump’ hat, two (2) ‘Trump’ style shirts, and a coffee mug.”

Petrisevac and Peters were arrested for burglarizing an unoccupied structure, a felony, and loitering and prowling, a misdemeanor. They are each locked up in the county jail in lieu of $2500 bond and have been ordered by a judge to stay away from the Trump store.

Petrisevac (seen below, left) told cops he works as a “local fisherman in the area but does not live here.” Peters, who appeared “heavily intoxicated,” did not make any statements to police.

Both defendants are transients with lengthy arrest records for crimes like trespass, disorderly intoxication, theft, drug possession, and possession of open alcohol. (2 pages)