Three men were arrested and charged with assault and battery in Hillsborough County following a Tampa robbery at Charley’s Steak House on Cypress Street. The three men are in jail for allegedly robbing the steak house with an assault rifle outfitted with a bayonet. The police chase ended with one of the suspects leaping into Old Tampa Bay.
The attempted robbery took place just after midnight and the suspects reportedly escaped the restaurant with a bag full of cash before jumping into a Lexus SUV. Police eventually caught up with the SUV that was reportedly involved in the robbery on the Howard Franklin Bridge. Officers were able to box the SUV in. At that point one of the men inside the silver Lexus got out of the vehicle and jumped off the bridge into the bay. The suspect was fished out of the water by police using a rope and his police cruiser’s rear seat which can be used a floatation device.

TBO.com is reporting officers not only recovered a suspect from the water but also a bag of money and a weapon. Three men were arrested at the scene on charges that include robbery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. One of the men who was arrested in connection with the Tampa restaurant robbery worked as a fry cook in the steak house. Another one of the suspects is a registered sex offender who was in prison for almost four years for a conviction on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child between the ages of 12-15.
The police were alerted to the robbery when a steak house employee called in the robbery report while hiding inside the restaurant’s dining room. Police were unsure at the time of the report which of the men was responsible for the robbery and which was the getaway car driver.