Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
CITRUS PARK, Fla. - Hillsborough County deputies arrested Willie James Harvey Junior, 25, and Kawaun Martez Thompson, 23, after they allegedly robbed the Jared Galleria of Jewelry in Citrus Park on Saturday night.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Harvey and Thompson entered the jewelry store shortly after 8 p.m. Deputies said Thompson pulled a sledgehammer from his sweatpants and handed it to Harvey before removing a canister of pepper spray and pointing it at a store employee.
Both suspects ordered all store employees to get on the ground as Harvey began shattering the glass of the jewelry display cases, deputies said. The suspects stole approximately $100,000 worth of jewelry and fled the scene in a rented black four-door Hyundai Elantra.
According to HCSO, 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 9-11 and continued driving behind the suspects until deputies were able to locate and stop the suspects’ vehicle at the Wilsky Professional Park business plaza. Deputies said the stolen jewelry was located inside the vehicle.
“The customers who helped lead deputies to these suspects are heroes,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. “We are thankful that these good Samaritans didn’t simply walk away, but instead followed the guidelines of ‘see something, say something.’ 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.”
Deputies said 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.