4 Men Charged With Robbing Tampa Convenience Stores: U.S. DOJ

TAMPA, FL — Four men are facing charges after robbing Tampa convenience stores, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

E’Barous Harris, 25, of Tampa; Ronald Brown, 23, of Riverview; Tra-Vontae Watson, 30, of Tampa; and Jermaine Dawes, 32, of Tampa were charged with two counts of Hobbs Act robbery. If convicted, each faces up to 40 years in federal prison.

When the four men robbed the convenience store on July 14, one of them carried a rifle and another forced a customer to the ground before stepping on the customer’s back and stealing money from them, the DOJ said.

At a second convenience store, one carried a rifle and another carried a pistol, which was pointed at the store clerk’s head and the clerk was struck as they demanded money. They stole money and tobacco products from the store.

The robberies were linked, and the men were identified based in part on surveillance videos from inside and outside the stores, as well as data from the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority and license plate reader data, the DOJ said.

Surveillance footage from a place where the defendants were staying helped to confirm the suspects’ identities and their participation in the robberies.