Three men suspected of stealing $500,000 worth of watches in heist — Greenwich, CT

Three men who stole at least $500,000 worth of watches from the Ross Simons jewelry store led police and security on a wild chase through Stamford Town Center and its parking garage before being apprehended on Saturday.

According to the Stamford Police Department, three men walked into the jewelry store in the Stamford Town Center at approximately 10:30, smashed a glass display case, and stole a number of watches. After a lengthy chase, the men were caught by police and security personnel from the Town Center. The arrests were made in the mall, the parking garage and on adjacent streets.

A total of four suspects are now in custody. One Stamford officer was injured while struggling with a suspect. He is being treated at Greenwich Hospital. One suspect was treated and released from Stamford Hospital after he was pepper sprayed by Town Center Security personnel while struggling to escape.

Saturday’s smash-and-grab robbery is similar to several other thefts in various jurisdictions in the Tri-State area. On June 28, three men wearing masks barged into David Harvey Jewelers, 995 Post Rd. in Darien, stole multiple pieces of jewelery and watches before escaping down I-95 south in the stolen car driven by a fourth suspect, Darien Police said at the time.

In January 2010, four men hammer-wielding men wearing black face paint broke into Fairfield’s Lenox Jewelry Store (2379 Black Rock Tpke.) and smashed open multiple cases. The crew fled the scene with several thousand dollars of merchandise in a dark SUV and a silver Audi, the Connecticut Post reported.

And nearly a year go, in November 2010, two masked men with sledgehammers broke open display cases at Greenwich’s Betteridge Jewelers (117 Greenwich Ave.), before making off with multiple high-end watches. Store employees huddled in the back and called 911 as the robbery was in progress, Greenwich Time reported.

And on Sept. 24 of this year, a pair of suspects were nabbed by Greenwich Police foiling the robbery of several Rolex watches from the Lux, Bond & Green jewelry shop at 169 Greenwich Ave.

http://greenwich.patch.com/articles/smash-and-grab-jewerly-heist-at-stamford-town-center