Florida Man Arrested in Connection with Armed Drug Store Robbery

Police arrested a man Thursday afternoon in connection with an armed robbery that occurred Tuesday at a San Mateo drug store, police said.

At about 2:40 p.m., an officer who was at the downtown train station and had just finished responding to an unrelated incident spotted a man stepping off a southbound train, police said.

The man, who had various tattoos on his hands and face, matched the description of the suspect in Tuesday’s robbery, according to police.

Officers were able to detain the man without incident. While searching him, officers discovered evidence connecting him to the robbery, police said.

Detectives arrived on the scene and positively identified the suspect as the same person wanted for the robbery, according to police.

Police identified the man as 26-year-old Tommy Evans. Evans is a Tampa, Fla. resident and has only been in California for a few weeks, police said.

Police arrested Evans on suspicion of robbery, kidnapping and related enhancements, according to police.

On Tuesday, at 12:45 p.m., police responded to the drug store, located in the 4000 block of South El Camino Real.

When they arrived, police learned that a man had entered the store and hopped over the pharmacy’s counter, threatening a pharmacist with a knife and grabbing her, according to police.

The man, still holding the pharmacist around the shoulders and brandishing a knife near her neck, walked her to the back of the pharmacy and demanded medication from another employee, police said.

When the second employee complied, the suspect released the victim and made his escape with the items, police said.

The incident was captured on the store’s surveillance camera.Neither employee suffered any injuries, according to police.

--Bay City News Service, photo via the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department