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4 suspects indicted in connection with Hillsborough armed robberies at convenience stores

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Published  August 20, 2024 6:08pm EDT
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

4 men indicted in rash of 7-Eleven robberies

Kylie Jones reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Four suspects have been indicted in connection with a series of armed robberies at Hillsborough County convenience stores.

The four men are accused of robbing two 7-Eleven stores in July.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida said a customer and several employees were caught in the middle of these robberies.

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"And for both robberies, we saw a very similar pattern," U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said. "There would be one person who would go in and demand the money. And then there would be another person who had a rifle, and then another person who often would have a pistol."

Handberg called these a series of terrifying robberies.

The first robbery happened early in the morning on July 14. Three of the suspects were captured on camera going into the 7-Eleven on South 50th Street near the corner of Palm River Road wearing ski masks.

An affidavit said the suspects went behind the counter of the store and demanded money from the store clerk. The affidavit said the suspects stole around $550 from the cash register.

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"In the course of that first robbery, they didn't limit what they were doing to terrifying the clerk," Handberg said. "They also had a person who was in the store shopping that morning."

Surveillance photos capture those suspects pinning a customer to the ground, before allegedly taking their phone and money. After that first incident, Handberg said they struck again two days later.

The suspects were captured on surveillance footage again, this time going into a 7-Eleven on West Waters Avenue near North Boulevard. Investigators said the suspects demanded money and then held the clerk at gunpoint.

"Pistol whipped the clerk," Handberg said. "Hit them with the firearm."

The affidavit said the suspects took more than $1,400 in cash and more than $4,200 in merchandise.

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Prosecutors said surveillance footage and Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority records helped track these suspects to a nearby hotel that they were then seen going in and out of.

Investigators believe there was a getaway driver involved in both robberies.

Handberg said this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a program that targets violent crime. 

"The drivers of violent crime are those who use firearms in the commission of dangerous offenses," he said. "And armed robberies are at the very top of that list."

Handberg said this case is one of many that are being targeted.

"It's been a tremendous success," he said. "We see that in some of the reductions in crime in the communities we serve."

E’Barous Harris, Tra-Vontae Watson, Jermaine Dawes and Ronald Brown were all arrested in connection with the robberies. Prosecutors said the suspects have been indicted on charges of robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and conspiracy to commit robbery.

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