Armed robbers are stalking migrant workers in fields

Five are arrested in four robberies Tuesday.

By S.I. ROSENBAUM, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

Farmworkers, left, talk to officials Tuesday about being robbed. On the right center, a suspect in the wave of robberies stands outside a patrol car.
	[Skip O'Rourke | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Skip O'Rourke | Times] Farmworker Francisco "Franco" Jimon, 15, was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday at a Plant City strawberry farm.

PLANT CITY - Francisco Jimon looked up and saw two men walking toward him through the strawberry field.

One of them leveled a gun.

"Don't move," the man said.

And just like that, in the middle of the day in a quiet country field, Jimon, 15, of Mulberry became a victim of an armed robbery, one of four stickups that targeted migrant workers on farms north of Plant City Tuesday, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies said.

By dusk, after a shooting and a police chase, five suspects were in custody.

But farmworkers said the crimes were nothing new.

"It happens all the time," said Jose Moran, 32, who works alongside Jimon at Sizemore Farm.

Sheriff David A. Gee agreed.

"This has been going on for the last couple of years," he said.

Thieves routinely target migrant workers on the street and even in the fields, said Shawn Crocker, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association.

Many migrants carry cash instead of using banks, and they're often hesitant to report crimes to police.

"Thieves see them as easy targets, because they're so isolated," Crocker said.

Robberies wax and wane with the growing season, Crocker said. After the last wave, in February, growers started staggering their paydays so thieves could no longer be sure when their victims would be carrying cash.

But it wasn't enough.

At 12:33 on Tuesday, Crocker was speaking at the Farm City Festival in downtown Plant City when he got a text message from a grower on his iPhone: "there r guys going around in the area today pistol whipping & cutting workers in the fields."

Then, as Crocker stood on the podium, he saw three agriculture deputies in the audience edge out of the crowd and run for their cars.

By that time, the thieves had struck twice.

The first robbery was at 11:27, on Sydney Road, where five men allegedly stole money from workers.

Half an hour later, on Roebuck Road, deputies believe the same group struck again, and one of them bashed a farmworker on the head with the butt of his gun and took his money.

At 12:55 p.m., a third robbery unfolded on McGee Road, leaving one worker with a bullet wound to the leg.

Deputies can't say exactly when the fourth robbery at Horton Road and Old Hopewell Road occurred, since it was reported later.

The victims in the McGee Road robbery were able to get the license plate number of the gray Jeep Cherokee the robbers drove, she said. Soon, deputies saw it on the road.

A chase ensued, and deputies boxed the Cherokee in on Alsobrook Street, off of Alexander Street.

"It was like Starsky and Hutch," said Allen Sandor, who was on his way home on his bicycle when the chase passed him.

The five left the Cherokee and fled on foot, said Carter, but deputies soon ran them down.

Deputies arrested four suspects from Plant City: Ricardo Young, 15, of 1504 Warren St.; Rodney Young, 17, of 810 Warren St.; Vintawn Brook, 17, of 1101 South Gibb St.; Jamal Rice, 18, of 1102 Ball St. The fifth suspect, Jamari McFadden, 16, is from of 1016 Emerald Hill Way, Valrico.

The five were each charged with four counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted murder, Carter said.

None of the victims was badly hurt, Carter said. The Sheriff's Office has not identified any of the victims or said how much money was taken.

Deputies searched the Cherokee and found a small amount of cash and three pistols, Carter said.

Meanwhile, farmworkers, deputies and growers will continue to deal with migrant-targeted crime. Usually, workers are robbed on payday, on their way home from grocery stores, says Rogelio Villanueva, a recruiter with the school district's migrant education program,.

Thieves watch them and know when they get paid and where they live, he said. Other times, they've been targeted by armed, local gang members.

Shawn Crocker said he thinks there's little growers can do, other than alert each other to danger, as they did on Tuesday

But he said that workers are growing more savvy, less likely to be intimidated, more likely to report crime.

"There are generations now that are getting educated in our public schools, and learning about their rights," he said.

S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at srosenbaum@sptimes.com or 661-2442. Times staff writers Saundra Amrhein and Casey Cora contributed to this report.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 23:34:18]