Deputy foils Best Buy robbery scheme

• Tweet

ORLANDO, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- A Florida couple were arrested after their plot to rob a Best Buy of more than $1 million in Apple products was foiled, police said.

Jasmin Roman, 24, and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Juan Carlos Ortiz Valez, planned to rob the Best Buy near the Florida Mall in Orlando early Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

However, their plot was discovered by sheriff's Sgt. Robbie Zeller, who was patrolling the area around 4 a.m.

Zeller spotted the couple in a U-Haul, became suspicious and called for back up, she said.

When deputies stopped Roman and Valez they were initially calm, but eventually admitted the scheme, detective Geoffrey Fahringer said.

The pair planned to rob the store when employees arrived in the morning, Fahringer said.

Roman told detectives she knew two employees would be opening the store, so the couple drove to one of their homes and cut their car tires so they couldn't get to work. Then, the couple planned to hold the manager of the Best Buy at gunpoint and steal the Apple products, including a shipment of the new iPads.

Upon searching the U-Haul, detectives found two handguns, eight handcuffs, chains, a lock, masks, gloves, binoculars, mace and a knife, Fahringer said.

"They watched too many movies," Fahringer said.

Roman, the suspected mastermind of the plot, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit kidnapping with a gun.

Valez was arrested on a count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping with a gun.