Pawnshop robbery suspect connected to similar 2019 incident in Fort Myers

Investigators say a man recently accused of impersonating a law enforcement officer while holding up a pawnshop in Southwest Florida committed similar crimes in the region previously.

On May 21, Raynoldo Ray Quiroga, 36, a convicted felon, was arrested after being accused of dressing up like a sheriff’s deputy and stealing guns from Capital Pawn in LaBelle on May 19.

According to the arrest report WINK News received Tuesday, Quiroga handcuffed a pawnshop customer, two employees and ordered a second customer to sit still while he went to a safe and stole approximately six guns from it and placed them in the tactical vest he was wearing. Then, investigators say Quiroga helped up a customer he had handcuffed, released him and let him exit the pawnshop. There was no report of injuries to victims during the robbery.

Quiroga reportedly used a gray 2010s Chrysler 300 to arrive and get away from the scene during the pawnshop robbery.

Together, Hendry County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm (ATF) tracked down Quiroga and arrested him.

During the investigation, an ATF agent responded to the pawnshop and reviewed surveillance images from the time of the robbery. He remembered a similar incident that happened in 2019 in Fort Myers with a male who matched the suspect’s description. At that time, a suspect dressed as a sheriff’s deputy tried to get into a restricted area of a check-cashing business on Palm Beach Boulevard, but he was refused by employees, who called police.

Fort Myers police named Quiroga as the suspect during that incident, but police were unable to make an arrest at the time.

Investigators learned the address listed in Quiroga’s name and responded to the home in LaBelle, where they found a 2010s Chrysler 300 registered in Quiroga’s name. Law enforcement officers were given permission to enter the home by the homeowner and found several pieces of evidence that were used in the pawnshop robbery.

While at the property, a man in the neighborhood approached investigators and told them he had seen a man running from behind the home.

Both the homeowner and another person at the home also confirmed with investigators Quiroga lived at the home they were responding to. When the two were shown surveillance images of the suspect from the pawnshop, they both named Quiroga as the suspect.

Eventually, on the night of the pawnshop robbery, Quiroga showed up at Hendry County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed. He gave a detailed account of what he did on May 19, which included riding in a pickup truck with a man he said was his boss.

Quiroga told investigators he and his boss drove to Palm Beach Blvd in Fort Myers, where they picked up two female prostitutes and then went to Cape Coral to drink alcohol and do drugs. He says they dropped of the women back at Palm Beach Blvd and then went to a job site in Cape Coral for a few hours before going fishing off a pier in Cape Coral.

Quiroga told investigators his boss dropped him off at his mother’s home before she drove him to speak with investigators at HCSO.

Investigators did not confirm or deny Quiroga’s narrative to be true or false in the arrest report.

During the interview, both HCSO and ATF investigators also learned the phone number Quiroga shared with them matched the same number used to call Capital Pawn in LaBelle for information about various firearms.

According to the report, a friend of Quiroga was interviewed on May 20 at HCSO. This man told investigators Quiroga asked him to help commit the robbery at the pawnshop.

This man says Quiroga told him a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings street gang instructed Quiroga to get an envelope inside the pawnshop and was willing to pay $15,000 for it.

The man told investigators Quiroga dressed in deputy-style attire at his home the day of the robbery. Then, Quiroga drove him in a gray 2010s Chrysler 300 to a Family Dollar store near the pawnshop and told him to walk to Capital Pawn as a customer to distract employees. He said it was planned for Quiroga to handcuff him when he responded to the shop as an officer to appear as a victim.

Quiroga released the acting victim during the robbery, and he took a taxi back to his home.

The friend told investigators Quiroga went to Immokalee after the robbery but did not know his exact whereabouts. Investigators said the man had not been paid as promised by Quiroga.

Quiroga was later arrested following an investigation after he visited the HCSO location and remains in custody at Hendry County Jail.

Quiroga faces charges for robbery with a firearm, three counts of kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, using a firearm during the commission of a felony, grand theft of a firearm, impersonating law enforcement, tampering with evidence, and tampering with witnesses.

Before the release of the arrest report, the stolen guns had not been recovered or found by law enforcement, and the report did not indicate they had been found yet either.

The ATF is offering a 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).

HCSO said Tuesday the friend has not been charged, at least not at this time. Or whether they would face any charges.

Investigators confirmed Quiroga was convicted of armed robbery with a firearm in Lee County back in 2005.

There is no further information at this time.