"Ninja robbers" nabbed in South Florida crime spree

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

Surveillance video at a convenience store in Dania Beach, Fla. on Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 allegedly shows one of two men who have been on a robbery spree in Ninja garb

/ CBS Miami

(CBS) FT. LAUDERDALE - Two men wanted in connection with a string of violent South Florida robberies in which the suspects dressed as ninja warriors were arrested over the weekend, CBS Miami reported.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that Clifton Lamothe, 31, and Michael Gonzalez, 31, were both taken into custody after a police-involved shooting in Hollywood, Fla. Friday night.

They said a multi-agency task force investigating the stickups confronted Lamothe and Gonzalez and Lamothe after a robbery at the 2 Quick Food Store in Dania Beach.

"We found the subject from the robbery and we were attempting to do a traffic stop when this occurred," a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Official said.

Store clerk Mohammed Huq said he was alone at the time.

"He had a gun," Huq told CBS Miami. "He put the gun to my head. I opened up the register and gave him the money."

Sources told the station an Aventura police officer shot Gonzalez during the subsequent traffic stop.

Sources said the two men may be responsible for as many as 18 robberies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Prosecutors are exploring the possibility of charging the pair under the federal Hobbs Act, sources told CBS Miami.

"If an individual commits either robbery or extortion and there's a connection to interstate commerce, they could be charged with robbery or extortion under this particular statue," former federal prosecutor David Weinstein said.

The FBI has taken over the case.

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