Detroit Metro Residents Indicted in Nationwide Smash-and-Grab Crime Spree

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Federal indictments against 17 metro Detroit residents could clear smash-and-grab jewelry heists in a half dozen states, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Crews of thieves from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties orchestrated the thefts in which hundreds and thousands of Rolex watches and other jewelry items were stolen in crime sprees that took the suspects to New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Mississippi, Nebraska and Connecticut, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a news release.

The government alleges the thieves smashed display cases with sledge hammers, then took the merchandise to an awaiting van, where it was taken back to Michigan and fenced.

The indictments charging the suspects with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery were handed down in six robberies, but reflect only a fraction of the defendants’ alleged criminal activity, the government said.

“These indictments follow a series of investigations nationally by various state, local and federal law enforcement agencies involving approximately 40 smash-and-grab robberies in 2014,” the release said. “In Michigan alone, between 2012 and 2014, approximately 25 smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies were committed.”

Those indicted are:

• Elijah McKinney, 24, Darius Ellis, 30, Latrina Williams, 38, Lorenzo Daniel Terry, 21, DaJuan Cortez Marcellus, 24, Brandon Phillip Wilkerson, 24, Marquis Wade Cheatham, 24, Darien Savon Thompson, 21, Britnei Rodgers, 29, Ernie Thomas Evans, 25, Darrick Adams, 29, Brandon Mayes, 20, Shaquita Wyatt, 24, all of Detroit;
• Kordaryl Cross, 25, of Westland
• Anthony Jerome Browner, 24, of Farmington Hills
• Bria Jackson, 22, of Shelby Township
• Bria Stanford, 21, of Belleville,

The FBI Oakland County Gang and Violent Crime Task Force is investigating the case. It is made up of agents and officers from the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State Police, Southfield Police; Bloomfield Township Police, Royal Oak Police, Waterford Police, and the Michigan Department of Corrections, the release said