Florida mom sets up sting operation at local Popeyes to catch alleged predator who was sexting her 13-year-old daughter: cops

A concerned Florida mother set up her own sting operation at a local Popeye’s to confront a man who was sexting her 13-year-old daughter — a showdown that resulted in the allegedly armed creep getting shot by cops.The unidentified mother discovered her daughter was having an ”inappropriate text relationship” with the suspect, identified as 18-year-old Cerry Rodriques Banks, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Chief of Investigations Alan Parker said during a press conference Monday.She then took her daughter’s phone and pretended to be her to set up a meeting with the suspect at a Popeye’s restaurant at around 7 a.m.on Sunday.Banks arrived at the fast food chain, believing he was meeting with the teen, but instead encountered the worried mother, her daughter, and her 11-year-old son.However, when the mom confronted Banks, he allegedly showed them a pistol tucked in his waistband.Banks then allegedly threatened the mother, telling her, “When you hear the shots tonight, you know what’s up,” Parker said.Fearing for the safety of her children and her own life, the mother retreated into the Popeye’s and phoned the police.The responding officer arrived about half an hour later and found Banks still lurking outside the fast-food chain.

Knowing he was armed, the officer immediately ordered Banks to turn around and show his hands.Parker said as Banks “slowly” turned his back to the officer before he bolted away and ran around to the back of the restaurant.The officer then rushed after him and, as he turned the corner, saw Banks pull the pistol out from his waistband.“He yells for him, ‘Drop, stop, gun, gun, gun,’ engages [the] suspect, he shoots him multiple times,” the Jacksonville police chief said.Hit by the officer’s shots but still mobile, the alleged creep then ran behind a “neighboring business” and dropped his gun, according to Parker.The officer did lose sight of Banks, but other cops showed up and deployed a K-9 unit to eventually track ...