Just before 8 a.m. on Friday, February 14, surveillance cameras at a home on Richey Rosa Lane in Plant City recorded a white male suspect burglarizing a pickup truck parked in a driveway. The suspect was seen exiting the passenger side of an older model pickup truck, opening the unlocked door of another pickup truck, then stealing a pistol and a pair of sunglasses. The suspect got back into his pickup truck, being driven by a woman, and the truck fled south on Thonotosassa Road.
Shortly after, at approximately 8:12 a.m., the same man and woman were seen on surveillance video entering the Marathon convenience store located at 12901 Highway 92 East. The man entered the gas station restroom and fired a single round from a handgun. As the duo exited the store, the man fired three more rounds from the handgun while in the parking lot before leaving in their pickup truck. The incident occurred across the street from a charter school during school hours.
The surveillance video of both incidents has been compiled and added to the HCSO Sheriff YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ2iRBXjlIw&feature=youtu.be
“It’s clear that this person has no regard for others. Not only did he break into someone else’s vehicle to steal their property, he carelessly fired a weapon across the street from a school putting children at risk. This individual needs to be located immediately and taken off of our streets. I’m asking anyone who recognizes him to please reach out to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office," said Sheriff Chad Chronister.
The suspect is described as a thin white male, approximately 25-30 years old, with low cut hair and a goatee. He has multiple tattoos including a full sleeve on his left arm and a cross on his left shoulder blade. The female driver is described as a heavyset white female. The pair is traveling in an older model black pickup truck with a chrome front bumper, silver toolbox in the bed of the truck, large dent on the passenger side and faded paint on the hood and roof.
Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200 or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).