BRIGHTON, Mich. – Three people have been arrested after a smash-and-grab robbery Monday evening at Rottermond Family Jewelers in Brighton.
Surveillance video from the jewelry store on East Main Street shows two males swipe high-priced watches from a display case. Police say one of them distracted a sales clerk while the other used a mini sledge hammer to bust through the glass case.
The robbers grabbed several watches from the case and fled the store. Police say a getaway driver was waiting outside. All three fled the area down Interstate 96.
However, an off-duty Dearborn Heights police officer spotted them and notified the Livingston County Central Dispatch. A Green Oak Township police officer blocked their path as they turned the wrong way onto the northbound U.S.-23 ramp to I-96.
The driver was arrested immediately, but the other two fled on foot into a wooded area. Brighton police later arrested them where they were hiding in a nearby dumpster.
Police recovered all of the stolen watches.
Police say the robbers are being held at the Livingston County Jail while awaiting charges, which will be determined by the Livingston County Prosecutor's Office.
Police from Brighton, Green Oak Township, Hamburg, the Livingston County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police all aided in these arrests.