The Region : Suspect in Daring Jewelry Heist Seized
A man believed to have led a submachine-gun-toting gang in a daring jewelry store robbery at the swank Beverly Wilshire Hotel has been captured, police said. Gerald Harris, 27, of West Los Angeles was arrested at his home Thursday by Beverly Hills police detectives and FBI agents, officials said. Details of his capture had been kept secret while authorities tried without success to locate three other suspects in the Aug. 22, 1985, holdup at Schwartz’s Jewelers. FBI agents, in an unrelated investigation, allegedly traced a recovered Uzi submachine gun to Harris. Ballistics tests showed that it was the same gun used in the jewelry store robbery, in which the gunmen fired shots into the ceiling, jumped counters and smashed showcases with small crowbars before grabbing gems worth an estimated $109,000.
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