Suspects Nab $1 Million in Jewelry from Value Pawn

Three people were arrested by authorities after allegedly stripping a Seminole Heights pawn shop of $1 million in jewelry and $30,000 in cash on Friday morning, according to a report from the Tampa Police Department.

Here's what happened, according to the report:

A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a dark bandana over his face entered the Value Pawn at 5123 N. Nebraska Avenue around 9:26 a.m. on Friday. He flashed a gun and moved employees to a back room of the business.

Once inside the room, the man tied up a male employee and asked a female employee to open a safe. The man took about $30,000 in cash and $1 million in jewelry before he fled.

Employees activated the panic alarm at the business, and a customer called police.

Authorities arrived with a K-9 and an air unit. Employees were able to identify the hooded gunman as Alexander Escarraman, 36. He was arrested by authorities a few hours after the incident.

Escarraman was charged with armed robbery with a firearm, armed kidnapping with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm and violation of probation for robbery stemming from a warrant.

Their roles in the incident are unknown, but a "substantial amount" of cash was recovered from all three suspects, said Rebecca Jones of TPD's crime prevention team. It's unknown whether all of the cash and jewelry was recovered by authorities.

No other robberies have been reported at that Value Pawn located this year, Jones said.