Cellphone, records lead to three arrests
The Christmas Eve armed robbery of the Yard House restaurant at the Sawgrass Mills mall, in which three men got away with $22,000, was an inside job, according to investigators.
In West Park on Tuesday, Sunrise police and a federal task force arrested Watverly Mortimer, 22, who worked at the Yard House. In Central Florida, FBI agents arrested Zyheem Ian Smith, 20, of Orlando, and Gedeon Joseph, 21, of Clermont.
According to court records, Mortimer let Smith and Joseph into the restaurant at 2610 Sawgrass Mills Circle through a back door after the manager arrived about 9 a.m. on Dec. 24th.
Wearing masks, Smith and Joseph went upstairs to the office. Smith pointed a gun at the manager, took his cellphone and ordered him to open the safe. They took about $22,000 and drove back to Orlando in a rented Hyundai Elantra, investigators said.
Yard House security cameras recorded the robbery on video. The manager’s cellphone, with Smith’s fingerprints, was found discarded in the parking lot, agents said.
Social media and calling records also implicated the three men, according to court documents.
Mortimer told investigators he did not know the robbers, but cellphone records A rare Goeldi’s monkey named Kali has been found and returned to the Palm Beach Zoo, officials said.
showed Smith and Mortimer were texting minutes before the robbery. Smith: “We here” Mortimer: “The manager for the safe aint here yet”
Smith: “U gon open the
door?”
Mortimer: out at 9:07”
After the robbery, Mortimer texted Smith and said “Throw the shirts away.” The next day, Christmas morning, they talked by phone for 17 minutes, the records show.
Cellphone tracking records also showed Smith’s “Im coming phone traveled from Orlando to Mortimer’s home in West Park, then to the restaurant, and then back to Orlando. Toll road cameras also matched the rental car’s locations with the cellphone’s locations to and from Orlando, agents said.
Facebook and Instagram accounts showed Mortimer, Smith and Joseph
were friends whose pictures appeared on Smith’s site, with Joseph wearing some of the same clothing and shoes worn during the robbery.
The trio also chatted and planned the robbery online, Facebook Messenger records showed.
Investigators have not disclosed whether any of the money taken in the robbery was recovered.
Sunrise police, the South Florida Violent Crime Task Force and the FBI are continuing their investigations of the case. Jackpot Triple Play: 17-19-38-40-43-46 Date: