Deputies seeking leads on man who robbed Brandon jewelry store - Tampabay.com (blog)
BRANDON — Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies have a new surveillance photo showing a man suspected of robbing a jewelry store at Westfield Brandon mall last week.
The photo is from a similar case in Pasco County.
Around 7 p.m. on September 6, a man walked in to Mirage Diamonds & Fine Jewelry at the Westfield Mall and asked to see some jewelry, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Surveillance footage from inside the store shows employee Jean Celestin, 40, placing a wide gold necklace over the man's head. After looking at himself for a moment in the countertop mirror, the man sprinted out of the store with the necklace and a bracelet valued at nearly $23,500, deputies said.
Deputies said the man is a black male, about 6 feet 1 and 25 to 30 years old. He was wearing a dark blue hat, black T-shirt, dark-colored long pants and black shoes.
Celestin chased the man into the mall parking lot and jumped on the hood of the thief's silver Chevrolet Camero. He clung to the hood for about a quarter-mile before he fell into the intersection of Brandon Town Center Drive and Brandon Boulevard. Celestin is currently hospitalized in serious, but improving, condition.
Anyone with information about the robber is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200, or call Crime Stoppers at toll-free 1-800-873-TIPS (8477) or visitcrimestopperstb.com.
