A crew of alleged jewelry heist experts has been nabbed, accused of rip-roaring through Michigan and Ohio and leaving shattered display cases—and nerves—in their wake. The six-person outfit, reportedly hailing from Detroit, was rounded up on Jan. 24, as per a statement acquired by the Detroit Free Press. After the suspects pulled off a brazen daytime hit at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, law enforcement managed to recover about $170,000 in purloined bling.
These smash-and-grabbers were not to quietly go about their spree, having allegedly wielded sledgehammers as their tools of trade during the now-infamous Jan. 13 robbery at Helzberg Diamonds in Great Lakes Crossing Outlets. They shattered cases in a violent display that sent shoppers fleeing in terror, according to FOX 2 Detroit. Their exploits went to be documented by Troy police as six robberies in total, an investigative coup credited to the cooperative prowess of local and county law enforcement.
The suspects were supposedly caught in the act as they executed a robbery at Sparkles Jewelry at the Lakeside Mall. The law enforcement had them surveilled, reuniting with a prior stolen vehicle and circling the mall in a rented car. "At approximately 2 p.m., four black males got out of the vehicle and went inside Lakeside Mall, leaving two individuals outside," a Troy police statement detailed, capturing the moment before they would again strike, noted by ClickonDetroit. "After a few minutes of scouting, the four entered the Sparkles Jewelry store... and immediately began smashing out cases."
Sgt. Ben Hancock of the Troy police informed FOX 2 Detroit regarding the suspects, stating, "Some of them do have some criminal history with some other robberies, larcenies, things of that nature." Truly, keeping the community safe involved a concerted effort from various agencies, aimed to swiftly apprehend the suspects who were thought to have committed a streak of six robberies.
The detained were identified as Courtez Eugene Lawrence, Deshawn Hammonds, Jasmine Latricia Oneal, Eric Lamar Lambert Bennett, Desean Shakari Hall, and Andre Demond Jackson. They were whisked off to Macomb County Jail, with suspicions of armed robbery hanging over their heads. The spate of crimes resolved, it was a collaborative success story for all law enforcement agencies involved. The trove of recovered jewelry is a testament to the diligence of the task force in their pursuit of ending the robbers' dazzling if illicit escapades.
