Robbery suspect punched out at North Fort Myers home

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. He was eating chicken wings one minute.

The next, he was cold-cocking a man who attacked him with a box cutter.

Santony Gadsden, 36, of Heiman Avenue in Fort Myers, was arrested Sunday at Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was taken by ambulance after he was knocked out by a single punch.

George Saladino was eating in his car while waiting on friends and saw Gadsden jump out of the bushes at his friends’ house on the 14200 block of North Cleveland Avenue, where he was parked, according to the sheriff’s office.

Gadsden came at him and told Saladino to “give it to him.”

Saladino, who feared for his life, assumed “it” was money. But instead of handing “it” over, he punched Gadsden in the face, the sheriff’s office said.

While Gadsden laid unconscious on the ground, Saladino searched Gadsden’s pockets for other weapons and removed his ski mask, according to the sheriff’s office. Gadsden came to before deputies arrived, and Saladino and his friend, who’d finally pulled into his driveway, held him down while they waited for authorities.

Deputies arrived and tased Gadsden when he refused to show his hands. A search of Saladino’s friend’s home revealed three televisions missing. Saladino’s friend also claimed a change jar containing about $1,100 was gone.

Gadsden is in custody facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, grand theft and resisting an officer.