A second person has been arrested and charged in the alleged robbery of a jewelry store on Wednesday where an employee was reportedly pistol-whipped.
Theron A. Smith, 19, was arrested Thursday on a charge of robbery causing serious bodily injury, joining 18-year-old Stafford A. Staples Jr., who was arrested Wednesday and charged with Class B felony robbery, according to information released by the Fort Wayne Police Department. The department also indicated that a third arrest in the alleged incident is pending.
The men are charged as a result of an incident that took place at around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday. Police officers responded to Do’s Jewelers, 2809 E. State Blvd., to investigate a report of an armed robbery.
Police said Wednesday that two men demanded cash at gunpoint from the 54-year-old jewelry store employee and that he was allegedly struck in the face and head with a handgun by one of the men. The employee was originally taken to a hospital in serious condition but had improved to fair condition Thursday, according to a news release.
On Wednesday, officers stopped a red and gray Blazer in the 3200 block of Wayne Trace soon after the robbery, allegedly found some type of evidence in the vehicle, and arrested Staples at that time.
The police department said Wednesday that numerous witnesses aided them in their search for suspects by describing the vehicle and indicating its direction of travel.
