Man accused of ramming, robbing stores

A man with a long criminal history rammed a stolen car into two Orange County convenience stores Tuesday and fled from police, only to be caught at Florida Mall by deputies on their annual holiday safety patrol, according to reports.

Investigators say Anthony Langford, 41, stole a white 1993 Acura fromanacquaintance at an Orange apartment complex Sunday, then crashed it early Tuesday through the front of ITIG Quick Mart, 7105 S. Orange Ave., and Sunrise Food Mart, 1635 W. Oak Ridge Road.

He stole scratch-off lottery tickets, beer and cigarettes, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jane Watrel said. Belle Isle police Lt. Nelson Espinosa spotted the Acura on McCoy Road about 7:45 a.m. and tried to pull it over, but it sped off. Langford, deputies said, ran from the car, which apparently got stuck on railroad tracks off Orange Avenue.

Later in the morning, sheriff’s Capt. Al Rollins recognized Langford from a description put out by the agency, a department spokesman said. Langford was holding a bag that investigators said contained stolen items. He ducked into Dillard’s, but deputies caught and arrested him about10:30 a.m. with no disruption to shoppers, Nieves said. Langford, who lives in east Orange, was being held without bail late Tuesday at the Orange County Jail on charges of resisting arrest and three counts of probation violation.

He was convicted of burglary, grand theft, sudden snatching, aggravated assault and fleeing a law officer in 2004 in Lee County. In 2001, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for burglary and selling cocaine.