The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was able to arrest two jewelry store robbers with the help of good samaritans over the weekend.
Shortly after 8 p.m. on March 7, Willie James Harvey Junior, 25, and Kawaun Martez Thompson, 23, entered the Jared Galleria of Jewelry located at 8104 Citrus Park Drive in Citrus Park. Thompson pulled a sledgehammer from his sweatpants and handed it to Harvey. Thompson then removed a canister of pepper spray and pointed it at a store employee.
Both suspects demanded that all store employees get on the ground as Harvey began shattering the glass of the jewelry display cases. The suspects gathered approximately $100,000 worth of jewelry into a blue pillowcase before running out of the store. They fled the scene in a rented black four-door Hyundai Elantra.
Witnesses, who had just left the business prior to the robbery, saw the incident taking place from inside their vehicle still parked in the business parking lot. The witnesses proceeded to follow the suspects as they fled in their vehicle. One of the witnesses called 911 and continued driving behind the suspects until deputies were able to locate and stop the suspects’ vehicle at the Wilsky Professional Park business plaza. The stolen jewelry was located inside the vehicle.
Harvey was arrested without incident and Thompson was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit. Both suspects are facing charges of robbery with a weapon and criminal mischief. Thompson is facing an additional charge of resisting an officer without violence.
“The customers who helped lead deputies to these suspects are heroes. We are thankful that these good samaritans didn’t simply walk away, but instead followed the guidelines of ‘See something, Say something,’” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “We ask all of our citizens, if you see something that doesn’t seem quite right, say something by alerting law enforcement. Doing just that is the reason why two dangerous individuals are now off of our streets and thousands of dollars in jewelry have been recovered.”
