PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The Kent County Sheriff's Department is still searching for two suspects in Friday's robbery at Paul Medawar Fine Jewelry, 4518 Plainfield Ave. NE.
Three suspects were taken into custody just before 12:40 p.m. at I-96 near M-6, according to dispatchers. The robbery happened shortly after 12 p.m.
Investigators say the five suspects arrived at the jewelry store, and four of them entered wearing masks while one waited outside.
A store employee opened fire on the suspects, and they fled in a black pick-up truck. No one was injured.
Tracy Webber, owner of Grand Cakes just down the parking lot, said she saw the black pick-up fly by her window at what she said looked like 45 miles per hour.
"(The pick-up) almost side-swiped the other, he didn't know what was coming, and if the van was here, the truck was just like get by, I want by!” said Webber.
Shortly after the robbery, officials say the suspects ditched the truck and split into two other vehicles. One of those vehicles was pulled over on I-96 and three people were arrested.
"We had various points throughout the highway blocked off, for whichever direction the car we were pursuing went after,” said Undersheriff Jon Hess, with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department. “The car did stop, the lights were activated, a felony stop was made, and three people were taken into custody."
Deputies say they believe the other suspects fled in a silver Dodge Durango. No physical description of the suspects was available. If you have any information, call the Kent County Sheriff’s Department at (616) 632-6100.
Friday's robbery is similar to the April 22, 2014 armed robbery at the jewelry store, when four masked men entered carrying guns to steal Rolex watches.
During that robbery, David Medawar, son of store owner Paul Medawar,opened fire on the suspects,wounding one of them.
After the Medawar heist, Tapper's Diamonds and Fine Jewelry in West Bloomfield was also robbed at gunpoint.
In October 2014, Nathaniel Pembrook, David Briley, Shaeed Calhoun and Orlando Johnson were charged federally with the robberies.
Federal investigators believe a total of six men were responsible for those two robberies. Two suspects from the Philadelphia areaare still being sought by the FBI.
