Boynton ‘Grinch’ quickly re-arrested
Hours after his release, police say man tried to rob person, steal car.
BOYNTON BEACH — A man whom B o y n t o n B e a c h p o l i c e h av e dubbed “the Grinch” after they say he tried to steal packages from a local post office Friday night has landed in jail a second time, this time for allegedly robbing someone at a Sonic Drive-In at gunpoint and then trying to heist a car from a bunch of teenagers in the parking lot.
Francis Keller, 56, had been out of the Palm Beach County Jail mere hours when just after midnight officers were dispatched to the fast-food joint on Winchester Park Boulevard to reports of a robbery and attempted carjacking.
According to the account issued by police, Keller approached an employee at the drive-in to inquire about a job, but during the conversation, he pulled a gun from his waistband and demanded money. After robbing the employee, police said, Keller dashed to a car in the parking lot, pointed a gun at the driver and told him to get out of the vehicle.
But the 16-year-old driver and the other teens in the car ducked and called 911, which sent their would-be carjacker running. They described the man to dispatchers and within minutes Keller was tracked down by officers. They say they recovered his weapon, a Hy-Score 800 pellet gun.
Police recognized Keller from Friday night, according to police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater. That evening,they say, they caught Keller, a former U.S. Postal Service worker, inside the branch office at 217 N. Seacrest Blvd.
They reported he was intoxicated and rummaging through packages with plans to sell any valu able s he found for c rack cocaine.