CLEARWATER, Fla. — Pinellas County deputies are asking for your help to find the three people who broke into a gun store earlier this week on Highway 19 and stole 27 guns.

  • Detectives say theft took 58 seconds
  • Suspects seen driving in dark colored Toyota Camry with tag number 699
  • Have information? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS
  • More Pinellas County stories

The break-in happened at the Arms for Defense gun store on U.S. 19, north of State Road 580 (Main Street) on Tuesday around 6:21 a.m.

“I really didn’t think this was going to happen here,”  said Paul Digirolamo, who has owned the Arms for Defense gun store in Clearwater for eight years.

“As soon as you start getting comfortable, things happen,” he says.  

Surveillance video shows a dark colored Toyota Camry and a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driving into the lot of the store about an hour earlier, then leaving. Then the Camry returned to the store. the video shows the suspects breaking the glass front door, entering the business and leaving with 27 guns, driving south on Highway 19.

 

The theft took all of 58 seconds. 

"We've got guns in the hands of criminals now, " Digirolamo said. "They stole these guns specifically to put them on the streets for bad guys." 

Deputies canvassed the area after a someone called in a tip to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. They found the pickup truck abandoned a few miles away on Boy Scout Road. It was reported stolen out of Polk County earlier that morning.

All of the suspects are seen wearing dark-colored, long-sleeved hoodies, pants and gloves. 

They also have a partial Florida tag number of 699. 

If you have any information, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), or go to the Crime Stoppers of Pinellas website.