TAMPA, FL. – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office detectives are looking for suspects who robbed a Save a Lot, and then shot at deputies as they attempted a traffic stop.
On Sunday, May 8, 2022, at approximately 8:31 p.m., two men entered the Save a Lot at 150 W Fletcher Ave. and started filling up bags with groceries. As they attempted to leave the store, an employee confronted them. One of the suspects brandished a shotgun, threatening the employee.
Running outside, they jumped into a car occupied by two people in the driver’s seat and front passenger seat. The suspects exited on W Fletcher Ave. headed west at a high rate of speed.
At approximately 8:32 p.m., two deputies in a marked patrol car heading east saw the suspect’s car speeding with no lights on in the opposite direction. Not knowing the suspects had just robbed the Save a Lot, they turned around to conduct a traffic stop and activated their emergency lights.
The suspects then shot at the deputies with a shotgun through the back window near the intersection of W Fletcher Ave. and N Blvd. The deputies pulled over in the parking lot of a bank to check for injuries and damage to their vehicle. Neither deputy was injured.
HCSO’s Aviation Unit and K9 responded to the scene, and the Tampa Police Department assisted in the search for the suspects.
“I’m grateful that our deputies and the employees at the Save a Lot were not harmed by these reckless and dangerous criminals,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “I urge anyone with information to please contact the Sheriff’s Office so that we may get these suspects off the street.”
Detectives are looking for two Hispanic male suspects with short, dark hair and a thin build.
One suspect, around 30-years-old, has face tattoos and was wearing a black hoodie with a small clover print (♣) all over the sweatshirt.
The second suspect, around 26-years-old, was wearing black jeans, and a colorful hoodie with red, yellow, green colors. He has a tattoo of a cross on one of his cheeks.
The suspect’s vehicle is an older model Buick, late ’90s to early 2000s, with maroon-colored and dark tinted windows. There may be damage to the right rear quarter panel. It is very likely the rear window has damage by the suspects’ firing toward the deputies.
If you have any information about this incident, please call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200. You can also report and share information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477 (TIPS).
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