FORT PIERCE — Police detectives arrested a Fort Pierce man Thursday after he used a cattle prod to rob a gas station, according to an arrest affidavit.

Middleton Henderson, 21, of the 3800 block of Edwards Road, was arrested at about noon after Fort Pierce police detectives and a K-9 and helicopter from the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office were deployed to search for him, police spokesman Ed Cunningham said.

He was charged with robbery with a weapon and aggravated battery, according to the report.

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The clerk of the Citgo gas station on the 4100 block of Okeechobee Road said Henderson was hanging around the gas station before the robbery. He walked in and out of the store multiple times, making small talk with the clerk, according to the report.

Henderson re-entered the store with a white T-shirt wrapped around his hand and a taser-like weapon. Police later identified the weapon as a cattle prod, according to the report.

Henderson jumped over the counter, and the two began fighting, with the clerk getting shocked, kicked and punched, Cunningham said.

Leaving the cattle prong on the floor, Henderson took money from the drawer under the register and left, according to the report.

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Officers found Henderson in an abandoned house in the 2300 block of South 29th Street, according to the report.

Henderson said he robbed the gas station because he hadn't seen his son in weeks and lost his home, his job and his car, according to the report.

Henderson was taken to the St. Lucie County Jail, where he remains with a $45,000 bail.