Detroit boy, 14, part of crew targeting 2 Birmingham jewelers

Jay Grossman
Hometown Life

A 14-year-old boy from Detroit was part of a crew scheming to rob two jewelry stores in downtown Birmingham.

Police lights.

The trio was caught trying to flee the area in a Chrysler Jeep stolen out of Detroit.

The incident unfolded May 27 when Birmingham police officers were dispatched to Darakjian Jewelers at 101 Willits Street on reports of three suspicious people inside the store wearing heavy clothing on an 80-degree day.

The suspects had left the store by the time police arrived but were quickly spotted on foot at the nearby Lucido Jewelers store in the Palladium Building. They got into a Jeep and quickly sped off after a patrolling officer initiated his emergency lights due to a brake light out.

The vehicle made an illegal left turn onto eastbound Maple Road and accelerated. Officers did not pursue the fleeing vehicle because of heavy traffic, but moments later received a 911 call reporting a matching vehicle stopped at a dead-end residential street near the railroad tracks off Eton Road.

The three suspects abandoned the stolen vehicle and tried to flee on foot but were quickly apprehended by arriving officers and taken into custody. Officers located hammers inside the vehicle, and the suspects admitted they planned to smash the glass cases in the jewelry stores and rob them.

Along with the young male accomplice, police arrested a 20-year-old woman from Detroit and an 18-year-old man from Warren.

Contact reporter Jay Grossman at, 586-826-7030 or Twitter: @BhmEccentric.