Jewelry Store Gang Arrested

Police in Monroe and Ontario Counties say they realized last month that the same criminal gang was ripping off jewelry stores in an escalating string of brazen thefts. Today they said 20-year-old Jaquan Simpson, 20-year-old Kashmiere Coats and 19-year-old Zeaquan Walker are charged with Robbery and Grand Larceny. They allegedly took more than 40-thousand-dollars' worth of merchandise.

Monroe County Sheriff's Department Detective Sergeant C-J Zimmerman says they started with small thefts and escalated. The gang would try on jewelry, distract the clerk and run from the store and into a waiting getaway car, selling the jewelry for cash. They used two different stolen cars for their getaways. On January 23rd, Sgt. Zimmerman says police realized there was a pattern to the crimes. Three days later they had the gang under arrest.

Greece Police Lieutenant Chris Bittner says the crimes eventually turned violent when a clerk chased the gang from a store in Greece, fell on ice and was run over by the getaway car.

Authorities say the thieves were tracked down by good police work...including tracking use of credit cards they stole in a purse snatching in Greece.


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