Attempted-murder suspect has long criminal record, police say
A man arrested on charges of armed robbery and attempted murder outside a hotel near International Drive has a long criminal history, police said.
Bruce Smith, 24, is accused of robbing a man of $180 at a Super 8 hotel Monday night, then shooting the man in the midsection, Orlando police said. He was released from prison in early October after serving a four-year sentence for burglary and grand theft.
Police noted that Smith has been arrested on 46 felony charges and 24 misdemeanor charges, and has been convicted of 14 felony counts and four misdemeanor counts.
The man who was shot told police he was standing in a hallway of the hotel, at 5900 American Way, talking to his wife on the phone when a man he didn’t know walked up to him, records show.
The man pulled out a gun and said, “Give me your money,” records show.
The suspect reached for the man’s back pants pocket and grabbed his wallet, which had about $180 in cash inside, police said. He also tried to take the man’s phone, and when the man looked at him, he fired one shot into the right side of the man’s midsection, police said.
Surveillance footage corroborated the victim’s account and showed the suspect — wearing a wide-brimmed camouflage hat, oversized black hoodie, athletic shorts and Air Jordans — running down a stairway and getting into the passenger seat of a Honda sedan.
Orlando officers said they found the Honda on Tuesday night.
Smith was the passenger, and there was a camouflage hat and a pair of Jordans in the trunk that looked like the shoes and hat in the surveillance video, police said.
Smith is being held on no bond in the Orange County Jail.