Suspects Indicted In 2013 Armed Robbery Of Jewelry Store

CANTON, GA — A Cherokee County grand jury has indicted two men accused of robbing at gunpoint a jewelry store in Canton nearly five years ago. Erin Stephon Arms and Brian Lamar Robinson were indicted this week by the grand jury in connection to the November 2013 armed robbery of Cartersville Jewelry Exchange at 1552 Riverstone Parkway Suite 170.

Robinson and Arms were indicted on one count each of armed robbery, criminal damage to property in the second degree and theft by taking. Arms was indicted on an additional count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime while Robinson was also indicted on a charge of possession of tools during the commission of a crime. Arms faces an additional allegation of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Cherokee County Adult Detention Center records show Arms, a Lithonia resident, was booked into the facility on May 13 on the aforementioned charges. Robinson remains at large, said Canton Police Chief Mark Mitchell. However, the public is asked to "let us know" if they are familiar with him or his whereabouts, the chief said.

Canton detectives kept up their investigation into the armed robbery, and the Police Department was notified that DNA obtained from the crime scene came back as a match on the suspects.

"That evidence, along with other information and evidence collected by detectives, allowed for warrants to be taken in the case," Mitchell told Patch.

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Officers with the Canton Police Department were dispatched to a call of an armed robbery at the business just before 11:30 a.m. Nov. 22, 2013. The men entered the store and ordered the employees to get to the ground, Canton police previously told Patch.

Police say the suspects cracked open some of the glass displays, took jewelry from the store and fled the scene driving a dark green Ford F-150 as the getaway vehicle. That vehicle, which was reported to be stolen from Atlanta, was later recovered, but the men were nowhere to be found.

Canton investigators worked with their counterparts at the Atlanta Police Department to see if they could obtain any new information to help solve the case. The investigation into the armed robbery stalled until the DNA evidence came back as a hit.

According to warrants issued by the Canton Police Department, the DNA was collected from discarded evidence at the scene. Those warrants also state the store suffered more than $500 in damages due to the incident. The indictment notes the pair allegedly took $25,000 in jewelry from the business, which has since closed its Canton location.

A petition to grant bond to Arms will be heard by Superior Court Judge David Cannon Jr. at 1:30 p.m. July 19 at the Cherokee County Justice Center.

Photo: Erin Stephon Arms. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff's Office