Grand Rapids station WZZM reports that the FBI is trying to determine if jewelry store robberies at Paul Medawar Jewelers in Grand Rapids and Tapper's in West Bloomfield four months ago are linked to a string of robberies across the country from New York to California since January.
The station writes:
It's been four months since a brazen daytime robbery at Paul Medawar Jewelers, but surveillance video, blood, and 137 Rolex watches taken in West Bloomfield may prove key to solving the case.
That's the hope at least, as the FBI continues to investigate the April 22 incident and compare it with similar robberies in Michigan and elsewhere.
The men behind the Medawar robbery are also believed responsible for a jewelry store holdup in West Bloomfield the same day; $1.6 million in Rolex watches there were taken at gunpoint.
Millions of dollars in Rolex watches have been taken in smash-and-grab robberies from California to New York since January. Federal and state agencies are trying to determine if there is a link.
"It's been turned over to the FBI due to the multiple connections around the country,'' Kent County Sheriff's Department Capt. Kevin J. Kelley said.
