JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The FBI said the four suspects arrested after a smash and grab robbery Tuesday at the Jared jewelry store at the St. Johns Town Center were caught quickly because police, acting on information that they might be in the area, were watching the store.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said three men walked into the jewelry store with hammers, broke glass counters and took jewelry. They were quickly apprehended after a short foot pursuit by SWAT team members who were watching the store.
According to the arrest report, the three held in the Duval County jail on armed robbery charges are John Davis, 29, Tristian Murphy, 30, and Delano Ross, 28. The report said two of the three in custody admitted to robbing the Jacksonville store. They were all ordered held without bond and told not to have any contact with each other.
A fourth man, Deven Newby, 28, a Detroit resident, was arrested in Camden County, Georgia, and held on an out-of-state warrant. Dash cam video captured the moment police spotted the silver Hyundai he was in, which matched the description of the car seen outside the Jared store at the time of the robbery.
FBI spokeswoman Amanda Warford Videll said the Jacksonville FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force was alerted by the Oakland County, Michigan, FBI office that the suspects believed to be in Northeast Florida may target a Jared store.
ORIGINAL STORY: Hammer-wielding robbers hit Jared at Town Center
The FBI and Sheriff's Office set up surveillance on Jared stores in Jacksonville, which is why the three suspects were caught so quickly. Newby managed to escape, only to be stopped on Interstate 95 by Kingsland Police.
The FBI said the four men could face federal charges.
"The crazy thing about the situation is they are very brazen," said Ken Jefferson, News4Jax crime and safety expert. "They did not care who was in there. They didn’t know if somebody was in there armed, if there was an officer there in plainclothes or even in uniform. They just went in brazenly with hammers and started raising havoc in that business. They took a very big chance of becoming a victim because they could’ve very easily become a victim if there was some sort of protection in place they weren't suspecting."
No one inside the Town Center Jared store wished to make a comment on Wednesday, but employees did say they were glad to be back open for business. The display cases were operational and there was no smashed glass.
There was a similar smash-and-grab robbery to a Jared store in the Detroit area last year, and those suspects were taken to jail.