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FBI: Detroit Gang Members Busted In St. Louis Jewelry Heist

MADISON HEIGHTS (WWJ) - Four jewel thieves and alleged gang members from Detroit have been caught by the FBI near St. Louis.

Authorities say Tyran Gray, Xavier Grove, Darrell Lee and Robert Scott were taken into custody earlier this week after robbing a Jared Galleria of Jewelry store in Richmond Heights, Missouri. All four are alleged members of the Detroit Vice Lords street gang.

According to a criminal complaint, the four suspects entered the jewelry store around 8:20 p.m. on Dec. 4 and told the five employees inside to "get down." The suspects then proceeded to use blue-handled Eastwing hammers to smash glass display cases and steal $59,275 worth of loose diamonds, along with several watches. After getting what they came for, the suspects fled the store on foot. No injuries were reported.

Click here to read the complaint (.pdf format)

Several police officers, who were in the area on an unrelated incident, saw the suspects running from the area and pursued them.

Lee was taken into custody just south of the jewelry store. At the time of his arrest, police say Lee had a backpack full of loose diamonds, watches and pieces of glass from the display cases.  Grove was taken into custody at a nearby Subway restaurant, while Gray and Scott were taken into custody after being located near I-170.

Police say Gray, Grove, Lee and Scott were wearing the same clothing when they were arrested as the four suspects in the surveillance video from the robbery.

Further investigation revealed that a Jared's store in Madison Heights, Mich. was robbed in a similar fashion, by four suspects with hammers, about a month earlier on Nov. 9. An identical robbery also happened in Portage, Mich. on Oct. 25, carried out by four suspects with hammers. Authorities say Gray, Grove, Lee and Scott are suspected in both robberies.

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