Woman ID’s alleged robber in Statesman ad, on Facebook
By Patrick George
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A man is in custody on a robbery by assault charge after police say his
victim identified him through a Crime Stoppers ad in the American-Statesman
and on his Facebook page.
Police arrested 33-year-old Renny Harvard last week and charged him with
robbery by assault, a second-degree felony. According to Harvard’s arrest
affidavit, a woman who worked at a nonprofit low income housing organization
at the 800 block of East Eighth Street reported that Harvard came into her
office in May and asked for some water by writing a note, indicating to her
that he was deaf. Harvard then grabbed a stack of money on the woman’s desk
and her car keys, leading to a struggle, the affidavit said.
Harvard grabbed the keys to the woman’s Jeep and left the office while the
woman continued to fight him, the affidavit said. He entered the vehicle and
drove off with her hanging onto the door before she fell off, the affidavit
said.
When the woman spoke with robbery detectives, she could not identify Harvard
from a photo lineup, the affidavit said. But she saw him in an ad in the
Statesman by Crime Stoppers, and located his Facebook page, the affidavit
said. She notified investigators, who on July 15 identified fingerprints on
the note as belonging to Harvard.
Harvard remains in custody on multiple felony charges, including three
counts of burglary of a habitation, one count of burglary of a vehicle, two
counts of theft between $20,000 and $100,000, and possession of a controlled
substance.
Harvard played football, basketball and ran track for the Texas School for
the Deaf in the mid-1990s.
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