Crime & Safety
Five Suspects in Multi-Million Dollar Jewelry Store Heist Arrested
Five men from Pennsylvania and New York told the victims they had been 'following them for months' before breaking into their apartment and kidnapping them. The reason: so they could use them to burglarize a Fairfield jewelry store, officials said.
By Ronald DeRosa
Federal authorities arrested four people from Pennsylvania and one New Yorker accused of kidnapping two people in Meriden, carting them to a Fairfield jewelry store and then stealing $4-$5 million worth of goods from the store.
The two victims were employees of Lenox Jewelry on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield, and were living in a company apartment at 120 Gravel St., in Meriden. The apartment is owned by Lenox’ parent company, Hanoush Jewelers.
Timothy Forbes, 31, William Davis, 25, Jeffrey Houston, 26, and Kasam Hennix, 39, all of Allentown, Pa., and Christopher Gay, 27, of the Bronx, N.Y. — were wearing masks and gloves when they broke into the apartment on April 11 around 9 p.m. Two of the suspects had handguns.
They bound the two jewelry store workers, and two other people in the apartment, using duct tape and covered their heads with pillowcases and jackets, court documents show. The suspects repeatedly spoke to the victims, one of them mentioning “they had been following the victims for months,” the documents said.
Read the full court affidavit attached to this story in PDF form.
One of the suspects also told a victim that he “drove really fast.” Three of the perpetrators then forced the two jewelry store workers into a BMW belonging to one of the victims and drove them to the Lenox store.
They made off with jewelry, watches and loose diamonds valued between $4 and $5 million, after which they fled in the BMW, leaving the victims bound inside.
The jewelry store workers were then able to untie themselves and call 911.
Around the same time, the victims who were still bound in the Meriden apartment, were also able to call the police, officials said.
A number of state and local officials were able to track down the suspects using phone records that pinpointed calls in and around the incident.
Forbes was later tied to the case after being arrested in Pennsylvania on burglary charges, while the other four suspects were taken into custody on Wednesday. Officials found jewelry, high-end watches and roughly $60,000 in cash in Davis’ apartment, while police also discovered more jewelry, watches and $50,000 in cash in Gay’s Bronx hotel room.
All of the suspects face federal kidnapping, robbery and firearms offenses, which are punishable to up to 20 years in prison. They all remain in federal custody.
Acting U.S. Attorney Daly praised all of the local, state and federal agencies who lent a hand in solving this crime.
“We applaud the excellent work of the investigative agencies, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and the Fairfield and Meriden Police Departments, who are responsible for these swift arrests,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Daly. “Our Office thanks them for their professionalism and dynamic work in this difficult and important investigation.”
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