Four suspects have been arrested in an “ambush” armed robbery at a restaurant at Brownwood in The Villages.
Three men wearing masks, hoodies, dark clothes and gloves at about 1 a.m. Saturday entered Gator’s Dockside through a rear door and ambushed an employee and a manager who were in an office. The suspects stole bank bags full of money, a cash drawer and an Apple iPhone and fled.
One of the suspects was wearing a bullet proof vest that said “Sheriff” on the front and back. Another carried a black firearm.
Lake County sheriff’s deputies and Fruitland Park police about a half hour later began began tracking the stolen iPhone. The trail led to an apartment in the Eurick Street area of Fruitland Park. A subsequent search of the apartment turned up a bullet proof vest matching the description of the one used in the Gator’s Dockside robbery, as well as clothing and a firearm. Items taken from the restaurant also were recovered.
A woman at the apartment, 27-year-old Chelsea Holland, claimed she knew about the robbery “afterwards.” She fingered a 15-year-old juvenile as the one who had been wearing the bullet proof vest. She also said 19-year-old Damieum Hurst of Ocala had been armed with the firearm.
“Holland was said to have known about the robbery beforehand and conspired to commit the crime and receive a cut of the money stolen during the robbery,” a detective from the Wildwood Police Department wrote in an arrest report.
Holland, Hurst, the juvenile and 29-year-old Bradley McGary were all taken into custody and face charges, including aggravated assault with a firearm and armed robbery.
Holland, who has a tattoo emblazoned with the name “Bradley,” was jailed on $70,000 bond.
McGary, who denied any involvement, was jailed on $200,000 bond.
Hurst’s bond was also set at $200,000.
