Police suspect one man is behind two Brinks robberies
By JOSH ZIMMER
Published December 24, 2003
CITRUS PARK - Authorities are investigating whether the suspect in a Tuesday morning Brink's robbery in Citrus Park is the same person who committed a similar crime last month in Tampa.
"Definitely it will be looked at," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said. "Pretty similar descriptions."
The latest robbery took place about 9 a.m. at the Bank of America at 7805 Gunn Highway.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the courier was unloading money bags from the back of the truck when the suspect approached him with a gun. The suspect, wearing a hat and a white bandana over his face, ordered the courier to the front of the truck before grabbing one bag and fleeing east on foot. He was last seen driving away in a white or gray late-model, mid-sized vehicle.
He is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8, 160 pounds and in his early 20s. He was wearing blue jeans and a green camouflage jacket over a gray hooded sweat shirt.
Tampa police still are trying to find the suspect who robbed a Brinks truck driver Nov. 11 outside Sam Seltzer's Steakhouse at 4744 N Dale Mabry Highway.
After parking his truck near the rear door, the driver signed for some money inside and came out. The robber, brandishing a chrome revolver, approached him from behind and stole the money, police said.
Authorities said the black-haired robber was about 30 years old, Hispanic, weighed about 170 pounds and stood 5 feet 10. He wore a ball cap, tan slacks and a blue jacket, and was last seen running north on Dale Mabry.
In addition, Reder said Tuesday that detectives were not ruling out a possible connection between the two Hillsborough robberies and an early morning October robbery in Land 'O Lakes, where a gun-wielding man stole money from a Publix. The supermarket, at State Road 54 and Collier Parkway, had just received a money delivery from an armored car. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office did not provide a description of the robber.
Authorities asked anyone with information to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 247-8200; Crime Stoppers, 1-800-873-8477; the Tampa Police Department at 276-3200; or the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 727-847-5878.
- Josh Zimmer can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com Information from Times files was used in this report.
