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Wanted by FBI: Female Jewelry Bandit Who Has Robbed Six Stores in Five States

Published

7 years ago

January 6, 2016

INSTORE Staff

She’s armed, and she appears to have an accomplice.

The Jacksonville, FL division of the FBI is seeking the identity of two suspects who have robbed multiple jewelry stores across the Southeast over the past several months.

The latest theft came on Monday when a white female in her late 20s or early 30s entered a Jared Vault location in Mebane, NC with a handgun and “forced two employees to a back room and zip-tied their hands. She then returned to the merchandise area, removed various items from display cases, and placed them into a shopping bag before exiting the store and fleeing in an unknown direction.”

She employed similar tactics in five previous robberies, including those of the Jared Vault in Sevierville, TN (Oct. 16, 2015); Jared Jewelry in Bluffton, SC (Sept. 2, 2015); Reeds Jewelers in Panama City Beach, FL (Aug. 11, 2015); Zale’s Jewelry in Dawsonville, GA (Aug. 5); and Jared Jewelry in Woodstock, GA (April 29, 2015). A black male suspect was also spotted on surveillance video in four of those robberies.

Wanted by FBI: Female Jewelry Bandit Who Has Robbed Six Stores in Five States

It Was Time to Make a Decision. It Was Time to Call Wilkerson.

Except for a few years when he worked as an accountant, Jim Schwartz has always been a jeweler. He grew up in the business and after “counting beans” for a few years, he and his wife, Robin, opened Robin James Jewelers in Cincinnati, Ohio. “We were coming to a stage in our life where we knew we have to make a decision,” says Jim Schwartz. He and Robin wanted to do it right, so they called Wilkerson. The best surprise (besides surpassing sales goals)? “The workers and associations really care about helping us move out own inventory out of the store first. It was very important to us.”