Headlines

2 Charged in $70,000 Jewelry Store Robbery in Salt Lake City

The crime occurred on Halloween 2019.

Published

5 years ago

March 31, 2021

INSTORE Staff

Two men have been charged in the $70,000 robbery of a Salt Lake City jewelry store.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jerome Welton McWilliams and 33-year-old Darnel Batts were charged with aggravated robbery, the Jewelers’ Security Alliance reports. The crime took place on Halloween 2019 at Stroud Jewelers.

According to JSA:

In that incident, the suspects expressed interest in purchasing several pieces of jewelry. While McWilliams looked at rings, the charges say he told Batts “go out to the car to get a bag that contained 20 G’s because he was going to buy his girlfriend some rings.”

Upon Batts returning with a duffel bag, McWilliams grabbed the owner who was helping the men and pushed him against a wall. McWilliams then ordered the owner to open all of the display cases so they could take everything. McWilliams removed handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the owner’s face.

JSA had a role in the investigation. After police released security photos, JSA “contacted Salt Lake police to inform them that they ‘immediately recognized the suspects as being involved in a series of eight different robberies out of California over the past four months,'” the Deseret News reports, citing an affidavit filed in the case.

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