Violence, looting hits Manatee County businesses for a second night. 5 suspects arrested

Several businesses were targets during a second night of looting and violence in Manatee County.

Five arrests have been made by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, one Bradenton teen and four suspects from North Port, in connection to two of the incidents.

Burglars and looters broke into several other stores in a similar fashion on Sunday. Four juveniles were arrested after those break-ins.

Just before 11 p.m. on Monday night, deputies posted outside the Walmart at 8320 Lockwood Ridge Road spotted a group of suspects throwing a hammer through the front window of Shah Jewelers, located in the same shopping center.

The store’s alarm — which can be heard from at least half a block away — was triggered, according to owner Nitin Shah. A footprint on the back door and broken bat nearby were later discovered. Shah said it appeared the burglars realized they couldn’t open the steel door, so they made their way around to the front.

“I’m very lucky,” Shah said. “It’s just sad someone would do this.”

Shah was very grateful because the two deputies went to the nearby Home Depot, and then a Home Depot employee came and boarded up his broken window at no cost.

The sheriff’s office said it believes that the suspects had been part of an earlier peaceful protest outside the Mall at the University Town Center that at times stopped traffic at the intersection of Cooper Creek Boulevard and University Parkway. They offered no details why they believed that.

At about the same time, two men were seen throwing Molotov cocktails at the K&S Discount Beverage corner store at 501 30th Ave. E., according to the sheriff’s office. One fell short but the other struck the building, causing a minor fire. Two windows, as well as the store’s main sign, were damaged by rocks.

Over at the Ellenton Premium Outlets mall, the sheriff’s office had preemptively closed the gates leading into the parking lot and the main entrance to the mall, and had deputies positioned there.

Just before midnight, deputies spotted several vehicles trying to enter through that gate until spotting the sheriff’s office vehicles and locked gate. A few moments later the deputies saw one vehicle drive the dead end road in front of the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, just north of the mall and three suspects ran towards the mall.

Additional deputies were called out and deputies searched the mall, finding a broken window at the Nautica store. Deputies also found four suspects hiding in some nearby tall grass.

The suspects, Caleb Alvarado, 20, Jeremy Morales, 19, Zyreke Kinsey, 19, and an unidentified juvenile were taken into custody and charged with burglary, prowling and loitering. All four are from North Port.

Deputies noted a mall worker’s vehicle was burglarized while on scene to board up the Polo Ralph Lauren store’s windows. All the windows at the Polo store have since been boarded up as a preventative measure.

Meanwhile, at about 12:30 a.m. video surveillance captured a suspicious vehicle drive past the entrance to Demetrios’ Pizza House, 1720 Cortez Road W., Bradenton, only to drive back up to the restaurant about 30 minutes later, according to owner Gus Sokos. Video then captured a flash of light as Molotov cocktails were thrown at the restaurant’s entrance.

“Thank goodness there was a passerby that immediately witnessed what was going on and called 911,” Sokos. “The sheriff’s department was here immediately along with the fire department.”

The Molotov cocktails were unsuccessful because the restaurant has impact windows and steel doors, Sokos explained. Instead the bottles broke and fell to the ground, burning the ground, sidewalk and just inside the door.

Those burn marks were still visible on Tuesday morning.

“Luckily, nothing else burned. We are fortunate,” Sokos said.

At about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, deputies say about 20 people stormed the Lakewood Ranch Walmart, 5810 Ranch Lake Blvd., and were able to get in through an unlocked shopping cart garage door. Wearing hoods, gloves and face masks, the suspects pulled merchandise off the shelves and smashed the jewelry cabinets.

One of the burglars, a woman, could be seen on video surveillance stuffing stolen items into a plastic bag she had brought with her to the store.

Just before 2 a.m., deputies responded to the Boost Mobile at 5241 33rd St. E., when the cell phone store’s alarm was triggered when the front door was smashed. Deputies didn’t find any looters by the time they arrived, but moments later the Bradenton Police Department stopped several vehicles and deputies responded to the stop.

Using the store’s video surveillance footage, suspects were identified as having stolen cell phone cases and other accessories from the store. One of the suspects, Eddravian Travon Butler, 19, was arrested. More arrests are pending, according to the sheriff’s office.

Anyone with information on these crimes are asked to call the sheriff’s office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-8477(TIPS).

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 4:28 PM.