My uncle was one of the reporting officers, although not seen in this picture.
No one was seriously hurt during the robbery.
At around 9:30 a.m., the two suspects entered the store through the front door and bashed in a display case, pushing one employee out of the way before leaving with jewelry, police said.
The suspects were last seen fleeing in a car heading west on Lewis Street. Both suspects were described as black males in their 20s wearing full face masks. One suspect was described as having a heavy build.
Police said the two escaped in an older-model, four-door white Honda with the partial characters on a New York plate reading "D17." The car, which police believe was driven by a third suspect, may have been abandoned in Greenwich, police said.
Greenwich police alerted nearby police agencies in New York and Connecticut immediately after incident, police said.
Immediately following the robbery, Win Betteridge, the son of the store's owner, came out to mail a letter and said everyone inside was fine.
"I was upstairs and didn't see them coming in," said Betteridge, describing how two men smashed the cases and took off. "There were a few watches taken." Lt. Kraig Gray, a police spokesman, said the only injury occurred when an employee cut his hand during a brief scuffle inside with the suspects.
As officers taped off and investigated the scene, a sledgehammer could be seen wrapped with a thin layer of plastic around the head lying under a black Acura MDX parked in front of the store. Police were also reviewing survelliance video of the incident, although they did not say whether it captured any direct shots of the suspects. Police declined to release the type and amount of jewelry taken.
It was not clear if the store was open during the robbery or if customers were inside. A sign posted outside the jewelry store said it opens at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays. The watches at Betterdige range in price from $150 to over $150,000.
The incident startled shoppers and business owners on the Avenue.
"I was going to the silver sale," said Patricia Lovejoy, who immediately called her daughter who works in the store. "This is very upsetting."
Drivers heading down the Avenue stopped and stared at the police activity. One woman driving a silver Range Rover was surprised after learning what happened.
"Betteridge? Again?" she asked, referring to an armed robbery there four years ago.
Across the street, business owners and store employees said they did not see the suspects, but came outside after they saw police cruisers speeding up the street.
Nancy Tedesco, owner of Greenwich Kitchen Works, said she was not overly concerned for safety following the robbery, but felt it was another reason why police should put back the third traffic officer at Lewis Street.
"It does feel a little safer," Tedesco said.
The third traffic officer was removed due to budget cuts last year, over the objections of business owners, including Terry Betteridge, the store's owner. Police, however, said pulling the officer helped add another patrol officer in the central Greenwich area and saved the town thousands of dollars of overtime funds. Traffic officers remain at Elm Street and Havemeyer Place.
Having the officer at Lewis Street has not always prevented crime, however.
Four years ago, Betteridge was robbed by a man holding an automatic weapon. Although he was confronted by police officer Jeremiah Bussell, who had been directing traffic nearby, the suspect escaped.
Charles Kertesz, a Bridgeport resident, fled on his motorcycle north on Greenwich Avenue, but dropped a backpack with $5 million worth of jewelry when he was confronted by police. The backpack provided investigators a DNA sample that eventually linked Kertesz to the crime.
He received a 21-year sentence two years ago for that robbery and three other jewelry-store stickups in Connecticut and Massachusetts between July 2005 and September 2006.
Two brothers were also sentenced in connection with the Greenwich Avenue robbery.
Ernesto Ortiz, of Milford, received a four-year sentence and an additional three years of supervised release stemming from his admission to setting a GMC Jimmy truck on fire with his brother Eric Ortiz, of Bridgeport, on Sept. 1, 2006, to create a diversion to allow Kertesz to hold up the store.
After setting the fire, the Ortiz brothers fled in another car, according to court documents.
Anyone with information on Tuesday's robbery is asked to call police at 203-622-8003.
No comments:
Post a Comment