Owner shot during Clarkston jewelry store robbery; one suspect still at large after fleeing across frozen lake - The Oakland Press
Owner shot during Clarkston jewelry store robbery; one suspect still at large after fleeing across frozen lake - The Oakland Press
A $1,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of the second of two suspects involved in a Clarkston jewelry store armed robbery Saturday afternoon.
Two men walked in to the Clarkston Jewelry Outlet on Dixie Highway south of White Lake Road around 4 p.m. and demanded all the jewelry and money in the safe from the store owner, a 51-year-old Springfield Township man, and his 20-year-old son, at gunpoint. The two suspects, who were wearing ski masks and dark clothing, told them both to get on the ground and they complied, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office reported.
As one of the suspects began rummaging through a smaller safe, the store owner’s son reported hearing the other call for him to come shoot the owner, the report said. The second suspect then fired a shot in the direction of the store owner, which hit the floor next to him causing an injury to his lower back. Immediately after, the suspect beat the store owner with his gun.
The suspects then asked him to open the larger safe, and once it was open they fled on foot with an unknown amount of cash and jewelry, as well as another handgun that was inside the safe, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
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Despite his injuries, the store owner jumped into his pickup truck and followed after the suspects, eventually finding them in a car outside the nearby Lakeview Cemetery. When he attempted to block the suspects in with his truck, one of the men fired multiple shots in his direction that missed him, at which point he rammed their car to stop them from leaving.
The suspects fled through the cemetery, with one later being captured by deputies near the watertower northwest of the Dixie Highway/White Lake Road intersection. The other suspect fled across the frozen Middle Lake, and a Sheriff’s Office K-9 officer was able to pick up a track on the opposite side. The track led to the 6000 block of Middle Lake Road, where the suspect reportedly stole a 2014 Jeep Cherokee from a residential garage.
A search for the Jeep was conducted throughout the area but it was not located and the man remains at large. A description of the suspect was not provided by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
The store owner was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of the wound to his back from the fragment gunshot and other cuts and bruises suffered from the pistol whipping, the report said.
The suspect in custody, a 48-year-old Detroit man, has an extensive criminal history and is on currently parole. He is being lodged at the Oakland County Jail pending criminal charges. Two handguns and the victim’s gun, as well as all of the jewelry and money taken during the robbery, were recovered by deputies during the arrest.
The reward for any information leading to the at large suspect’s arrest is being offered by Crime Stoppers of Michigan, and an investigation into the robbery is ongoing by the Sheriff’s Department.
Anyone with information about the second suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers immediately at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
