Jewelry

Each face felony charges of robbery, kidnapping to facilitate a felony and conspiracy to commit robbery. They also face misdemeanor charges of simple assault and terroristic threats.

Spradley, the alleged accomplice, waived her preliminary hearing and plans to plead not guilty as the case moves into Common Pleas Court, her defense attorney, Michael Marinaro, said.

A preliminary hearing is used to determine whether sufficient evidence exists in the case for it to go to trial. Waiving the hearing is not an admission of guilt.

Tyner, who is accused of executing the physical robbery, chose to proceed with his preliminary hearing.

In response, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen called two East Lampeter detectives to the stand: Scott Eelman and Joseph Edgell, who is the charging officer in the case.

The car was rented by Spradley that morning, Edgell testified.

Clothes and a wig matching the description of the Zales robbery suspect were found scattered along the woodline not far from the car. Eelman said he could see other items through the vehicle’s windows that also matched descriptions from Zales: a large orange shopping bag and a four-prong cane.

Once a warrant was obtained, the stolen jewelry was located inside the vehicle, along with a wallet containing ID for Tyner, Eelman said.

Representatives from Zales were able to identify the recovered jewelry from the vehicle using the SKU numbers on the tags, Eelman said.

Edgell spent much of his testimony detailing how the actual robbery took place. The robber wore a mask that made him look like an “older Caucasian male,” he said. Tyner is listed as black in the criminal complaint.

Once inside the building, he brandished a black handgun and made two employees lie face down on the floor, before binding their hands behind their back with duct tape, Edgell said.

He then brought one of the victims back out to the front of the store when he was having trouble opening some display cases, Edgell said.

Before he left, he bound the victims’ legs together with duct tape as well.

One of the employees was able to work their hands free and shimmied over to a phone to call police, Edgell said.

Eelman testified that a note was taped, using duct tape, to the front door of the store. The note indicated the store was having air conditioning problems and would not be open until noon, he said under cross-examination from Tyner’s attorney, Beverly Rampaul, a public defender.

Formal arraignments for Tyner and Spradley are scheduled for Oct. 14, according to district court officials.