Smith recalls a bit of wisdom the industry leader, who died last week, shared at a diamond conference years ago.
JSA Offering $10K Reward in Calif. Murder
A 32-year-old man was shot and killed during an attempted robbery at his family’s jewelry and pawn shop in Highland, California.
Highland, Calif.--The Jewelers’ Security Alliance is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of two men wanted in connection with a fatal attempted robbery last week.
According to the JSA, the suspects entered a jewelry and pawn shop in Highland, California, at 12:58 p.m. on Jan. 10, threw a Molotov cocktail on the counter and then opened fire.
Jason Cullen, the 32-year-old son of the owners of Highland Pawn, brandished his own gun and returned fire. The return fire caused the suspects to flee, but Cullen was hit in the abdomen and died the following day, The (San Bernardino) Sun reports.
In addition, two people suffered burn wounds from the Molotov cocktail but are expected to recover.
“These are men that thought about it, planned it and they didn’t care about human life,” the victim’s mother, Delores Cullen, told KCAL 9. “They need to be stopped.”
The JSA is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two men, and the victim’s parents have put up a $5,000 reward as well.
Little description of the suspects are available, only that they are black males in their mid-20s with a medium build who were wearing surgical masks with dark pants and dark hoodies during the attempted robbery.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the JSA Reward Hotline at 800-325-1883. Measures will be taken to allow tipsters to remain anonymous and still collect the reward.
JSA President John J. Kennedy confirmed Thursday this is the first jewelry industry homicide of 2018.
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