CrimeSep 24, 2026
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6 Charged in Connection to String of New Jersey Smash-and-Grabs
The alleged thieves used crow bars and sledgehammers to smash into jewelry stores across the state.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark announced last week that six men from New Jersey have been charged in connection with smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies across the state.
Newark, N.J.—Six men have been charged in connection with a string of smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies across New Jersey.
Beginning in early 2025, several jewelry stores in New Jersey, as well as Staten Island, New York, were the targets of smash-and-grab robberies, with each crime committed using similar tactics, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
While the jewelry stores were open for business, thieves wearing masks and gloves used crow bars and/or sledgehammers to smash the glass doors and front windows of the store.
Once inside, they shattered the glass display cases to grab the jewelry inside.
“Customers at these jewelry stores found themselves caught in the middle of violent robberies carried out by masked men who showed little regard for anyone who might get hurt,” said FBI Newark, Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that during the May 14, 2025, robbery of a jewelry store in Paterson, New Jersey, thieves smashed through the glass doors and windows in the middle of the day using crow bars.
They cut themselves on the broken glass, leaving behind blood that was tested for DNA.
The DNA matched 24-year-old Shaquan Jones and Kayron Caldwell, 34, both from Newark, New Jersey, said officials.
Days after the robbery, Jones took pictures of himself holding a wad of cash with a bandage on his left hand, which investigators were able to recover from his online cloud storage account.
Caldwell allegedly conducted internet searches for butterfly bandages and wound treatment.
Jones and Caldwell were each charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery.
Jones was charged by complaint and appeared before a judge in July. He was ordered to be detained.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Caldwell was indicted on Aug. 5 and appeared before the judge on Aug. 13, entering a plea of not guilty. He also was detained.
In March, thieves smashed their way into a jewelry store in Union City, New Jersey, using 10-pound, brand-name sledgehammers.
Once again, one of the suspects cut themselves on the broken glass. That blood evidence matched Derreck Proctor, 33, of Newark, New Jersey, said officials.
He also was caught on hardware store security camera footage weeks before the crime using cash to buy sledgehammers of the same weight and brand as those used in the robbery, said officials.
On March 7, Proctor was charged by complaint with one count of Hobbs Act robbery.
He appeared before a judge on Sept. 23 and was released on bail.
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Beginning in early 2025, several jewelry stores in New Jersey, as well as Staten Island, New York, were the targets of smash-and-grab robberies, with each crime committed using similar tactics, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
While the jewelry stores were open for business, thieves wearing masks and gloves used crow bars and/or sledgehammers to smash the glass doors and front windows of the store.
Once inside, they shattered the glass display cases to grab the jewelry inside.
“Customers at these jewelry stores found themselves caught in the middle of violent robberies carried out by masked men who showed little regard for anyone who might get hurt,” said FBI Newark, Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that during the May 14, 2025, robbery of a jewelry store in Paterson, New Jersey, thieves smashed through the glass doors and windows in the middle of the day using crow bars.
They cut themselves on the broken glass, leaving behind blood that was tested for DNA.
The DNA matched 24-year-old Shaquan Jones and Kayron Caldwell, 34, both from Newark, New Jersey, said officials.
Days after the robbery, Jones took pictures of himself holding a wad of cash with a bandage on his left hand, which investigators were able to recover from his online cloud storage account.
Caldwell allegedly conducted internet searches for butterfly bandages and wound treatment.
Jones and Caldwell were each charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery.
Jones was charged by complaint and appeared before a judge in July. He was ordered to be detained.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Caldwell was indicted on Aug. 5 and appeared before the judge on Aug. 13, entering a plea of not guilty. He also was detained.
In March, thieves smashed their way into a jewelry store in Union City, New Jersey, using 10-pound, brand-name sledgehammers.
Once again, one of the suspects cut themselves on the broken glass. That blood evidence matched Derreck Proctor, 33, of Newark, New Jersey, said officials.
He also was caught on hardware store security camera footage weeks before the crime using cash to buy sledgehammers of the same weight and brand as those used in the robbery, said officials.
On March 7, Proctor was charged by complaint with one count of Hobbs Act robbery.
He appeared before a judge on Sept. 23 and was released on bail.
The final three men charged in jewelry store smash and grabs were Wyzier Peterson, 28; Corey Boyd, 29; and Terrance Drakeford, 33, all from Paterson, New Jersey.
On June 16, a group of thieves once again smashed their way into a jewelry store in Wayne, New Jersey, using sledgehammers, before fleeing in an SUV.
Surveillance videos captured the thieves switching into a second vehicle blocks away from the store.
Boyd was driving the getaway car, officials allege, with Peterson and Drakeford as passengers.
Police in Haledon, New Jersey, tried to stop the car for a traffic infraction a few minutes later. The car fled the scene and crashed one block away.
Officials apprehended Drakeford at the scene of the crash, but the other two fled on foot. Boyd and Peterson were later identified and apprehended, officials said.
They were each charged by complaint with one count of Hobbs Act robbery. All three appeared before a judge on Sept. 10 and were ordered to be detained.
All six men face up to 20 years imprisonment for Hobbs Act robbery, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of money involved in the offense, whichever is greater.
A total of nine jewelers in New Jersey have been victims of smash-and-grab robberies since the start of the year, which prompted the Jewelers’ Security Alliance to issue an alert for New Jersey jewelers last month.
The affected areas include Jersey City, Union, Perth Amboy, Newark, Orange, Edison, Wayne, Iselin, and Bogota, New Jersey.
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