Crime & Safety
Sheriff Arrest Suspect in Brandon Area Robberies
Eighteen-year-old Allan Stinson was arrested today in connection with three robberies in the Brandon area.
A suspect in the armed robbery of the Steak ’n Shake restaurant on West Brandon Boulevard is under arrest.
Allan Jerome Stinson, 18, of Tampa was arrested April 11 on unrelated charges. The new charges were added April 12 after Stinson was identified by a subject who was present during the Steak 'n Shake robbery at 1402 W. Brandon Blvd.
According to a sheriff’s office report on the April 2 incident, the armed robbers ordered four Steak ’n Shake employees into a storage room before taking money from the registers and the employees just before 7 a.m. The pair was captured on video during the heist.
Deputies believe Stinson is one of two armed robbers responsible also for an additional armed robbery and attempted heist in the Greater Brandon area, all occurring within 10 days of each other.
Find out what's happening in Bloomingdale-Riverviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The most recent of the three incidents occurred April 7, at Five Guys Burgers & Fries, 1513 West Brandon Blvd. That robbery was within a half-mile of the April 2 armed robbery at the Steak ’n Shake restaurant.
The first of the three incidents was March 28, at Liberty Tax Service, 10827 Bloomingdale Ave.
Find out what's happening in Bloomingdale-Riverviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Leslie Blazer, the office manager at Liberty, said she was the only one in the office when the robbers, dressed head-to-toe in black and armed with a rifle and handgun, came in through the back door at about 8:30 p.m.
“They just kept telling me ‘don’t move, don’t move’ but I had my hands in the air the whole time,” Blazer said in an interview April 12.
The robbers didn’t come up with much — and left with nothing, according to Blazer.
“There was only seven cents in the cash drawer,” she said. "Tax offices generally don’t have much cash on hand."
Still being sought is a second suspect. He is described as a 5-foot-11, 180 pound male aged 22 to 29. He reportedly has a thin build, brown eyes and was wearing a black ski mask, long-sleeve black shirt, black glove on left hand, black tennis shoes and black jean pants with a white design on the right thigh and right rear-pocket area. He was armed with a bolt-action rifle.
Anyone with information should call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 813-247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online atwww.crimestopperstb.com or text "CSTB plus your tip" to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637).
