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CrimeFeb 06, 2016
JSA: Female armed robber strikes again
The “extremely unusual” case of the female jewelry robber continues. Authorities believe she has hit another jewelry store, this one in Tennessee.
Sevierville, Tenn.--The “extremely unusual” case of the female armed robber continues, this time in a small town in eastern Tennessee.
According to a Jewelers Security Alliance alert, between 9:15 and 9:30 on Friday morning the suspect entered a jewelry store in Sevierville by herself and forced two sales associates into a back room.
She allegedly directed them to drop their keys and then bound their wrists using plastic zip ties before returning to the front of the store, opening the showcases and stealing diamond bridal jewelry.
JSA President John J. Kennedy told National Jeweler on Friday that even though the suspect was wearing a disguise of sorts this time--a large baseball cap, navy blue scrubs and what appeared to be a red wig--authorities believe it to be the same woman who allegedly has hit at least three other jewelry stores since Aug. 5.
The use of black gloves, binding of employees with zip ties and type of store hit--one not in an enclosed mall--match the methods used in previous robberies.
There is also the fact that, as Kennedy pointed out previously, there aren’t too many female armed robberies in the jewelry industry, and this is the only one he’s seen work alone in his 23-year career with JSA. While she is believed to have a male accomplice, she goes into the stores by herself to commit the robberies.
“There’s just too many … similarities,” Kennedy said.
The JSA has a standing $10,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of this woman, whose case has been featured on TV stations across the South as well as on Good Morning America.
According to authorities, she last struck more than a month ago, robbing a store in Bluffton, S.C. on Sept. 2.
Before that she allegedly hit a store in Panama City, Fla. on Aug. 11 and one in Dawsonville, Ga. on Aug. 5.
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