SWEETWATER, Fla. – Three California men who donned “Michael Myers” Halloween masks during a Sweetwater armed robbery that led to a police shooting and chase on Friday are now facing federal charges, authorities say.
FBI agents say the trio, all from the San Francisco Bay Area, zip-tied frightened employees during the robbery at a business selling Apple products.
Aaron Brown, 35, and Eric Chase, 42, both of Oakland, California, and Ranier Landry, 27, of Hayward, California, are now facing federal carjacking, Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery charges.
All three flew to Miami from San Francisco two days before the robbery, authorities said; Brown and Chase were on the same flight.
According to a federal criminal complaint, the masked, gloved men arrived in a GMC van and were dropped off at the unidentified business at 10893 NW 17th St. just after 10:45 Friday morning.
Authorities said the van then drove away. The driver and anyone else who may have been inside remained at large as of Friday, according to the complaint.
Agents said after being dropped off, the three, all brandishing what appeared to be guns, came up to an employee waiting outside and forced him or her inside the business’s garage space, where five other employees were at the time.
The complaint states that one of the men forced two workers into the bathroom and bound their hands with zip ties, then came out and tied the rest of the employees up in the garage.
Authorities said one of the men took the keys to the business’s van while the other two began packing Apple products into a bedsheet.
Those two suspects quickly left and got into the van after hearing police sirens, investigators said. As the men were getting into the van, police opened fire and shot Chase.
The three took off in the van and led police on a chase in which they would discard objects, including a “black police-style vest” and one of the masks.
Authorities said they stopped the men in Medley after the van became immobile near the 10800 block of South River Drive.
Chase, shot in the leg, and Landry, who complained of an unspecified injury, were both taken to the hospital for treatment, the complaint states.
In the van, police said they found two more vests and masks, as well as two airsoft guns.
The three men would eventually be taken to the Broward County jail to be held on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Authorities said during a search of the business, they found the bedsheet with about 170 assorted Apple products left behind, worth about $170,000. They said they also found another airsoft gun.
Agents said surveillance video showed Brown zip-tying victims with his pants significantly sagging, revealing a distinct pair of “neon green underwear” that he was wearing at the time of his arrest, tying him and the other men to the scene.
Their federal court file did not list any appearance dates as of early Monday afternoon.