Crime

JSA Offering $3K Reward in Fla. Grab-and-Run

CrimeSep 19, 2016

JSA Offering $3K Reward in Fla. Grab-and-Run

The incident happened at a mall jewelry store in Brandon and ended with a chase that severely injured a sales associate.

Brandon, Fla.--The Jewelers’ Security Alliance is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of carrying out as many as three grab-and-run robberies in Florida.

One of those robberies, which happened Sept. 6 at a mall jewelry store in Brandon, Fla., ended with the sales associate being severely injured.

According to the JSA, during the Brandon robbery, the suspect entered the jewelry store shortly after 7 p.m., tried on a gold necklace and grabbed another piece of jewelry before running out of the store.

The sales associate who had been helping the suspect gave chase and latched onto the getaway vehicle as the suspect drove away, hanging on for nearly a quarter-mile before being thrown to the pavement. He was critically injured and, as of Friday, still was hospitalized.


This security camera still provided by the Jewelers’ Security Alliance shows the man wanted in as many as three recent grab-and-run robberies at Florida jewelry stores.
The JSA said the same suspect might have carried out a grab-and-run robbery three days later in Port Richey, Fla. and another in Clearwater.

He is described as a light-skinned black male, 6 feet 1 inch tall, 25 to 30 years old with a muscular build and a trimmed beard. He possibly was accompanied by another suspect who was driving the car, a newer model two-door silver Chevrolet Camaro.

Anyone with information in the case is being asked to call the JSA reward hotline at 800-325-1883. Those providing tips can remain anonymous and still collect the $3,000 reward.

The JSA advises jewelers and their employees not to chase a grab-and-run suspect, for they may be armed or have accomplices who are armed.

Jewelers and their sales associates could also be knocked down, run over or otherwise severely injured when attempting to stop a suspect, as happened in the Brandon, Fla. case.
Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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