WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A 19-year-old is being charged with armed robbery after holding up a Winter Haven smoke shop at gunpoint.
The robbery happened in the afternoon on Tuesday, Sept. 12. According to statements from Winter Haven police, Cervonte Omar Griffin came into The Smoke Shop on Central Ave. E. He took out a handgun, brandished it at the store owners and demanded, "Put all the stuff in the bag."
One of the owners refused. So Griffin grabbed multiple boxes of Vape Cartridges from behind the counter. Altogether, police estimated it was about $1,000 worth of goods. Then, Griffin started to walk away, but then he quickly moved back toward the owners, pointing the gun at them and warning them, "go back go back." Then he left the store.
The robbery was caught on the store's video cameras, and Winter Haven Police used images taken from the footage to identify Griffin as a student at Winter Haven High School. They made a positive identification and also determined that Griffin was the suspect who stole $600 worth of Elf Vape Pens from the same store back in July 2023.
Police arrested Griffin on Thursday, Sept. 14. In addition to the armed robbery charge, they also charged him with one count of petit theft for the previous year's robbery.
