Second arrest made in group accused of staking out Rolex store, robbing pair who bought watch

(L) Wayne Tarpley - (R) Davontae McCrae (MDCR/Copyright 2022 Google)

MIAMI – A second man has been arrested in a group robbery of two customers who had purchased a Rolex in Miami’s Design District last month.

Miami police arrested 28-year-old Wayne Tarpley at his northwest Miami-Dade home Thursday.

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It came a little less than a week after the arrest of 22-year-old Davontae McCrae, who’s also accused in the crime.

Police reports mention two other suspects, who haven’t yet been arrested.

Police said the robbery happened on Aug. 19, when the group followed the two victims after they left the Rolex store in their Land Rover, driving northbound on Northeast Second Avenue.

As they stopped at a red light at the Northwest 62nd Street intersection, a gray Lexus bumped into the SUV, investigators wrote.

When the SUV driver got out, one of the men exited the front passenger’s seat of the Lexus, carrying a gun, and McCrae got out of the rear passenger’s seat, according to police.

In a second arrest report obtained by Local 10 News Friday, police said Tarpley got out of the rear driver’s side seat of the vehicle.

The man pointed the gun at the victim and said “gimme the f---ing Rolly,” police wrote. The man then got into the Land Rover through the driver’s side door, pointed the gun at the other victim, and repeated: “gimme the f---ing Rolly,” pointing to the bag containing the newly-purchased watch on the passenger-side floorboard.

The man grabbed the bag and all of the men got back into the Lexus and sped off, police said. One of the victims was able to see the license plate of the Lexus as it passed by and provided the information to police.

Miami Real-Time Crime Center surveillance cameras captured the entire robbery, investigators wrote.

The next day, Miami Gardens police found the vehicle unoccupied behind a house on Northeast 207th Road.

As with McCrae, police said fingerprints taken from the vehicle matched Tarpley’s and officers were able to use GPS data to place Tarpley at the scene.

Police executed a search warrant at Tarpley’s apartment on Northwest 62nd Street Thursday, where they found him and a Glock 23 pistol.

Unlike McCrae, who police said confessed to the crime under questioning, Tarpley invoked his right to remain silent and didn’t speak to officers, the report states.


About the Author:

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.