6 Arrested In Smash-And-Grab Robberies Across MI, OH: Police

TROY, MI — Six people were arrested in connection with a string of robberies in Michigan and Ohio, including a smash-and-grab theft at a shopping mall in Auburn Hills in January, according to Troy Police.

Courtez Eugene Lawrence, 28, Deshawn Hammonds, 21, Jasmine Latricia Oneal, 29, Eric Lamar Lambert Bennett, 27, Desean Shakari Hall, 31, and Andre Demond Jackson, 21, were each charged with armed robbery.

They were all placed in the Macomb County Jail, according to police.

Police said the group targeted numerous jewelry businesses and robbed six total robberies in Michigan and Ohio. The group used rental vehicles and a stolen vehicle in the crimes, police said.

Police said the group was responsible for the smash-and-grab theft at Helzberg Diamonds at Great Lakes Crossing Mall in Auburn Hills on Jan. 13.

The three masked men walked into the jewelry store with hammers and smashed numerous displays cases inside the store and took $11,000 worth of jewelry, according to police.

Investigators identified a suspect vehicle, which was a rental and identified who rented the vehicle before it was returned and a new vehicle was rented, according to police.

Investigators determined the group was responsible for another smash-and-grab robbery at the Kay Jewelers at Lansing Mall in Lansing on Jan. 22, according to police.

Investigators found that the newly rented vehicle was the getaway vehicle in this incident, according to police.

Police then followed that rental vehicle on Jan. 24 to Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, where four suspects entered the mall around 2 p.m. and robbed a Sparkles Jewelry store, according to police.

The rental vehicle and a second vehicle stolen from Harper Woods on Jan. 16 circled the mall parking lot before the theft, with two suspects remaining outside, according to police.

After the Lakeside Mall theft, four suspected robbers fled on foot with the stolen jewelry, before officers arrested them, according to police.

Officers arrested all six suspected robbers and recovered $170,000 worth of stolen jewelry from the Sparkles Jewelry store, according to police.