JCPenney Diamond Suspects Linked to $1.5m Series of Raids
December 18, 22
(IDEX Online) - Four men arrested during a jewelry raid at a s JCPenney store may be linked to a series of heists that netted $1.5m.
The suspects were apprehended as they smashed display cases with hammers to steal diamond jewelry at the at the CoolSprings Galleria, in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.
Police say one suspect pepper-sprayed an employee and another tried to grab an officer's gun.
There have been at least five similar smash-and-grab robberies at malls in Tennessee and Arkansas in recent weeks.
Police believe they may be linked. The men they arrested have been charged with aggravated robbery, felony vandalism and evading arrest.
The Jewelers' Security Alliance said in an update: "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 the others in a van."
Pic of the JCPenney store, courtesy Google Street View