TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — A man is behind bars after officers say he robbed a Tarpon Springs jewelry store at gunpoint.
It happened around 6:42 p.m. Monday. Officers say someone called 911 to report an armed robbery had just happened at One Life Jewelry at 836 Dodecanese Boulevard.
Officers say they immediately responded and began searching for the man responsible.
Around 7 p.m., officers say they spotted 39-year-old Jeremy Paquette, who matched the description of the robber, near the intersection of Hope Street and Ada Street.
Officers say he told them he was searching for his lost dog, but when officers searched him, they say he had a "large amount" of money with him. At the time officers approached him, he didn't have a gun with him, the department said.
A witness, however, positively identified him as the person who robbed the store, officers said.
Within 20 minutes of finding Paquette, officers say they arrested him.
K-9 officers with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office were then called in to search the area for the gun used in the robbery. Shortly before 8 p.m., they found it along with some of Paquette's clothes that he had tried to hide in some bushes at Corcoris Park, officers say.
Paquette was charged with robbery with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, and felon in possession of ammunition.
