Lakeland Old Navy Robbed, Clerk Hit: 4 Tampa Residents Arrested

LAKELAND, FL — The Lakeland Police Department has announced the arrest of four Tampa residents in connection with a Monday evening robbery of an Old Navy store.

According to the agency, its officers responded to the 919 Lakeland Park Center Drive store just before 9 p.m. Nov. 21 in response to a robbery call. When they arrived, they learned that four people had entered the store, stuffed merchandise into bags and tried to walk out without paying.

An employee attempted to confront the people at the exit, prompting the suspects to drop three bags that contained more than $1,000 worth of merchandise, an email from the police department said. One of the suspects, later identified as Ashli Adams, hit the employee in the face while another ran outside with bag containing about $331 in merchandise, the email said.

The employee was not able to get a good look at the vehicle the four took off in, police noted.

As it turned out, a Polk County Sheriff’s deputy happened to spot a 2010 Mercury Milan a short time later near Kathleen Road. The tag on the Milan had a seize order on it, so the deputy made a traffic stop, the email said.

When the deputy was checking out the vehicle, he noticed several items of clothing from Old Navy that still had security devices on them, the email added. The deputy checked with Lakeland Police and learned about the robbery that had occurred only a few minutes before.

The employee who was struck was taken to the scene and identified all four people in the Milan as those responsible for the robbery, the email said. The people in the vehicle were also wearing the same clothing as those captured on store security footage.

Those arrested are:

• Donovan Brown, 19, grand theft
• Ashli V. Adams, 19, robbery without a firearm
• Rashonda Milton, 19, grand theft
• Alexis Lee, 18, grand theft

No further information is being released at this time.

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