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Additional suspects sought in connection with Medawar Fine Jewelry robbery

Posted at 12:24 PM, Jan 27, 2015
and last updated 2015-01-27 12:33:14-05

KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The Kent County Sheriff’s Department is now searching for at least four suspects in connection with the Jan. 23 robbery at Paul Medawar Fine Jewelry, 4518 Plainfield Ave. NE.

That number is up from the initial report of two suspects still at large.   Three men were arrested shortly after the Friday afternoon incident.

According to a release, Darnell Brown, Charles Fortune and Zackary Cender, all of East Lansing, have been charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit retail fraud, a five-year felony.  They’re each being held on a $100,000 bond.

Medawar suspects

(Left to right) Darnell Brown, Charles Fortune and Zackary Cender

Investigators say four men entered the jewelry store shortly after 12 p.m. Friday and tried to break into the Rolex display case with hammers.  An employee shot at the suspects with a handgun, but no one was hit.

At least one person was waiting outside the store in a black pick-up truck.  The suspects fled in the truck and later split up into two other vehicles.

Three people were arrested on I-96 near M-6 less than an hour after the robbery, and deputies are still searching for the suspects who were in a silver Dodge Durango with tinted windows.

It’s unclear how the additional suspects are connected to the incident.  No other information about the suspects was released.