Four men were arrested in connection with a jewelry robbery in Tennessee.
The Dec. 3 robbery took place at JCPenney in Cool Springs Galleria, WZTV-TV reports. Scroll down to watch a news video about the crime.
Police were tipped off by an employee at a Jared store in Franklin, who noticed that a purported customer was wearing sunglasses at night, along with a hoodie, hat and surgical mask.
According to a bulletin from the Jewelers’ Security Alliance:
One suspect walked into a store (not the scene of the robbery) wearing a hat, hoodie and surgical mask. After seeing the man was also wearing sunglasses on a dark night, a store employee called the police. Simultaneously, undercover police nearby identified the suspect who then fled the scene and joined four others in a van.
The van drove to a fire lane outside a department store, and four masked suspects went in the store. They smashed showcases, took diamond jewelry and one suspect pepper sprayed an employee. As the suspects were being arrested by the police who had followed them in, one suspect fought with an officer and attempted to grab his gun, but was subdued. Three of the suspects and the driver were arrested.
Police are collaborating with detectives from other agencies to determine if these suspects were involved in five similar, recent smash and grab robberies in Tennessee and Arkansas which had losses totaling $1.5 million. Franklin, TN police have a successful project called “Not in Our Mall,” which seeks to build closer relationships with retailers, and has resulted in 34 arrests this year.
The men have been charged with charged with aggravated robbery, felony vandalism and evading arrest.
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