INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The theft of a cellphone may have been the undoing for a trio of armed robbers who were ultimately caught in Indian River County after knocking over a store in Port St. Lucie, according to authorities.
One of the victims in the armed robbery at an Autozone in Port St. Lucie was able to log into his account and track his phone to a 7-Eleven in Vero Beach, leading authorities to a vehicle and three suspects who matched descriptions from the scene.
All three have bond set at $1 million each, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested the following suspects, who are being held for Port St. Lucie authorities:
- Damaron Hamilton, 23, of Ft. Lauderdale;
- Barian Parrish, 22, of Miami;
- Jerome Robinson, 24, of Ocala.
According to their arrest reports, the men entered the Autozone, located on SW Gatlin Boulevard, at 8:50 p.m., brandishing firearms and ordering customers to the floor. The men then robbed the store’s safe, two cash registers and two drop boxes that contained the day’s receipts; they also robbed victims of their personal items.
The three wore white shirts over their heads and faces, but victims were able to give a description of what the suspects were wearing, including their shoes and shorts, the arrest reports state.
Using one victim’s cellphone, authorities tracked the men to the Vero Beach 7-Eleven located at 23rd Street and U.S. 1, finding two men in the car and another exiting the store.
Officers were able to look into the car and saw out in the open stacks of cash, a flip-style phone matching the victim’s description, and a black handgun, among other items described as having been stolen from the victims.