Deputies make arrest in violent robbery

MULBERRY - Deputies have arrested 18-year-old Kimani James of Plant City and charged him with robbery and attempted murder. Investigators say surveillance video shows James inside Prima’s convenience store in Mulberry Friday morning.

What you don’t see, they say, is the terror James and another man created for the two female clerks inside, shooting both in the arms and taking off with fistfuls of money.

“This was a very violent encounter. The reason we’re not dealing with a double homicide is just by the grace of God right now,” offered Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

The hunt now continues for the second man who police say was James’ accomplice in this crime. He’s seen on surveillance video inside the Circle K convenience store on State Road 60 in Plant City. But deputies say the encounter at Prima’s was their last stop.

Deputies say the surveillance photos were taken just before the two men began a crime spree that spanned two counties.

Investigators say around 1:15 a.m. Friday, the men drove a pick-up truck right into the front of an Ace Hardware store in Lithia.

Once inside, they smashed a glass case and stole nearly 30 handguns that had been locked inside it. The store spent the weekend repairing their door, but say they had bigger worries than the clean up.

“You know, the scary thing is those guns are out on the street which really concerns me,” said store owner Kathy Hutchison.

In fact, deputies believe the gun James used inside Prima’s was one of the more than two dozen they had stolen hours before.

By Saturday deputies had recovered both the pick-up truck and the Toyota seen in the surveillance video, but still were on the hunt for the second man they say is involved in these crimes.

If you have any information you can call either the Hillsborough or Polk County Sheriff’s offices. The agencies are working together to solve these crimes.