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5 Suspects Arrested In Plant City Area Armed Robberies

George H. Newman / Tribune

An officer walks past a Jeep Grand Cherokee that the suspects were driving in today’s chase.

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 6, 2007

Updated: 11/06/2007 09:30 pm

Video: Watch The Car Chase

PLANT CITY - A string of armed robberies, including the shooting of a migrant worker, led to a car chase that ended today with the arrests of five suspects.

Two victims were struck in the head with a gun and one was shot in the thigh during an assault spree against more than six migrant workers, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

Two of the suspects were injured, including one who suffered a broken leg when officers crashed into the suspects' Jeep Grand Cherokee near 1316 Alsobrook St.

Witness Connie Dasher said she was driving home on Alsobrook Street with her 3-month-old granddaughter in the car when she saw the suspects and officers coming straight at her.

"The cops had their lights flashing and their sirens on," Dasher said. "I thought they were going to run over me."

As Dasher pulled off Alsobrook, the suspects' vehicle, a gray Grand Cherokee, turned to the north, about 40 feet in front of her car, attempting to drive on a dirt road.

"The cops hit the Jeep from three sides," Dasher said. "Three boys jumped out of the car and ran right past my car. I was scared to death."

The other two suspects remained in the Jeep, including one with a broken leg and the other with bruised ribs.

A civilian who tried to help officers capture one of the suspects also reported an injury. He collided with a county detective who ran after one of the suspects.

Plant City Fire Rescue Chief Gene Shuler said the civilian was treated for a cut lip and bruises at the scene.

Officers started chasing the suspects' Jeep because it matched the description of a vehicle linked to four robberies north and west of Plant City. Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said the robberies were staged today between about 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The victims were all reportedly Hispanic, including some working in a strawberry field. One victim was shot in the right thigh near McGee Road.

He was transported to the hospital but his injury wasn't life-threatening.

Carter said investigators have not determined how many migrant workers were attacked but it's more than six.

The targeting of migrant workers and immigrants was a problem in the past but it had ebbed, Carter said.

Often, migrant workers are afraid to report the crime directly to police, said Tirso Moreno, of the Farmworker Association of Florida. Attackers know when they get paid and rely on the practice of many migrants carrying cash instead of opening a bank account, Moreno said.

"These robberies, these problems are urgent for our organization," Moreno said. "Along those same lines are the scams and the extortions. Police have to be pay attention to these crimes."

Highlighting the plight of the laborer was a fatal home invasion in October 2006. The attackers killed a man and injured several others when they beat them with hammers and a pistol.

The ferocious attack, which bloodied the walls, mattresses and knocked doors off hinges, might have occurred because the robbers were tempted by money the men kept in the house, immigrant activists said.

During the car chase, the suspects crashed into a motorist at Mud Lake Road but continued to flee onto Alexander Street, heading north. With helicopters overhead and deputies in close pursuit, the suspects turned east on Alsobrook Street, where the final crash occurred.

The first robbery was reported at 11:29 a.m. on Sydney Road, where four or five victims were robbed, Carter said. The second holdup was at the intersection of Sydney and Sydney-Dover roads, where an undetermined number of victims were robbed at about 12:22 p.m. The shooting at 1206 McGee Road took place at 12:55 p.m.

A fourth robbery of migrants working in a strawberry field near Old Hopewell and Horton roads was reported the same day but the time wasn't immediately available.
All of the robberies took place outdoors, officials said.

The two people hit over the head with a gun were treated and released, Carter said. Authorities recovered three handguns and some cash from the jeep, she said.

Arrested were:

Ricardo Young, 15, of 1504 Warren St. He was treated and released from South Bay Hospital complaining of an ankle injury.

Rodney Young, 17, of 810 Warren St. It is unknown whether he is related to Ricardo Young.

Vintawn Brook, 17, of 1101 S. Gibbs St. He was treated and released from South Bay Hospital complaining of an ankle injury.

Jamal Rice, 18, of 1102 Ball St. and Jamari McFadden, 16, of 1016 Emerald Hill Way, Valrico.

The five were charged with four counts of armed robbery and attempted murder.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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