Four men from the Tampa area have found themselves in cuffs following a string of violent robberies at local convenience stores, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. E’Barous Harris, Ronald Brown, Tra-Vontae Watson, and Jermaine Dawes are facing serious time, up to 40 years each in federal prison, should the gavel fall heavily against them. Two counts of Hobbs Act robbery, a federal offense that implicates violent, firearm-assisted thefts that disrupt interstate commerce. The U.S. Attorney's Office reports this quartet orchestrated their crime spree beginning July 14.
On that day, according to the criminal complaint, not just the store but a customer was victimized; they were literally stepped on, their wallet pilfered as the cash register was being emptied. Following this, only two days later, another store suffered at the hands of this crew. A pistol was brandished, a clerk was struck, and cash along with tobacco products vanished into the thieves' pockets, a truly harrowing incident for those who bore witness. In both instances, the suspects were allegedly armed with substantial weaponry, with reports mentioning a rifle and a pistol.
An assembly of evidence including surveillance footages, license plate data, and other digital breadcrumbs led law enforcement to pinpoint these four Tampa men as the suspects. It was this connective thread of clues that ultimately drew the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Tampa Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office together, culminating in the arrest and charges laid out by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman.
Underlining the gravity of this situation is the backdrop against which these arrests occur: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). This program is a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies and community organizations to assuage the tide of violent crime and gun-related violence. Cast within this framework, the arrests reflect more than just the apprehension of individuals but signify an ongoing commitment to community safety and a response toward the broader call for a reduction of violence, details of which were underscored in the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy publicized on May 26, 2021.
The community is reminded, however, that these charges are simply allegations and that the defendants — Harris, Brown, Watson, and Dawes — remain innocent until proven guilty. They, like all who stand accused, are beneficiaries of a system that holds presumption of innocence as a central tenet. As these men await their day in court, the community they allegedly terrorized looks on, perhaps with hope that justice, in its most equitable form, will be served.
