FBI Offers $50K Reward for Dangerous Jewel Raider

(IDEX Online) - The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a jewel raider who should be considered to be "armed and dangerous".

Alberto Perez-Elias, 57, is one of four men charged over the $1 million robbery at Tio Jewelers in Cape Coral, Florida, USA, in January, in which the manager was pistol-whipped and forced to open the safe.

Three other defendants have already been arrested, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, but Perez-Elias remains at large.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for him on June 24, and he was added to the FBI's wanted list on July 1.

The FBI announced the reward on September 8, more than two months after the arrest warrant was issued, saying it considers Perez-Elias armed and dangerous and is offering up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.

The gang allegedly broke into a vacant business next door to Tio Jewelers and cut through the shared wall to enter the store through a bathroom.

They lay in wait for five hours, from 4.50am, until the manager arrived later that morning. 

The original federal criminal complaint valued the stolen merchandise at more than $500,000. A superseding indictment filed in June subsequently put the value at more than $1 million.

Perez-Elias, who was born in Cuba, faces federal charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and use, carrying and brandishing of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The FBI said Perez-Elias may use the aliases Alberto Perez Elias and Alberto Perez and may have used two different dates of birth.

Pic shows the FBI's wanted poster.