Woman says friend is OK after being tied up during pawnshop robbery

We reported employees at a pawnshop in Southwest Florida were tied up recently by a suspect during a robbery, and we are continuing to get a better idea about what happened when those employees were witness to six guns being taken from a safe at there. A woman who knows one of the employees shared details from the robbery.

We spoke to Emma Brown who told us her friend is OK but shaken up after investigators say Raynaldo Ray Quiroga, 36, dressed up as a law enforcement officer and robbed Capital Pawn in LaBelle May 19.

Brown told us her friend and everyone else inside Capital Pawn were tied up for 45 minutes, as the suspect cased the place, stole six guns and got away.

Hendry County Sheriff’s Office and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested Quiroga, but they say the guns have not been found.

Regardless, it’s back to business as usual at the small-town pawnshop in LaBelle, where crime scene tape was removed, and sheriff’s deputy vehicles have left.

“It’s something very scary because you don’t think something like that will happen,” Brown said.

According to the arrests report, Quiroga he had a real gun as part of his fake cop disguise, and a friend helped him pull off the robbery.

“It’s one of my coworker’s sister that works over there at the time,” Brown said. “They said it was very frightening.”

Investigators say Quiroga recruited a friend to help him. That man told deputies Quiroga claimed a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings gang would pay him $15,000 to get an envelope from inside the pawnshop.

Investigators say this wasn’t the first time Quiroga tried to steal from a business in disguise.

Fort Myers Police Department say he was suspected of trying to do the same thing at a checking-cashing store in 2019.

“Criminals have similar way of working,” said Rich Kolko, WINK News Safety & Security Specialist. “Once they get away with doing things, they likely continue doing those.”

We visited the check-cashing store in Fort Myers, but none of the employees we met were working two years ago when deputies say Quiroga tried to pose as a law enforcement officer back then.

The ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of those six weapons. If you have any information, you are being asked to call SWFL Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).