Bellevue Police investigators traveled to Vancouver, WA, to arrest a man they believed used a military uniform and a story about a fake engagement to steal a diamond ring worth $100,000 from a Bellevue jewelry store before assaulting the store manager during his escape.
On February 22nd shortly after 7 p.m., a man dressed in military fatigues entered Diamond Inc. on Main Street in Bellevue and asked to see 3 to 5 carat diamond stones. The man claimed that he was about to be “deployed”, had just gotten engaged, and told the clerk that he was shopping for wedding rings. The store employee presented the man with a 5.54 carat marquise diamond. The suspect grabbed the stone from the sales person’s hand and ran from the store. The store manager chased after the suspect, who got into a vehicle that was being driven by an accomplice. The store manager grabbed onto the suspect’s uniform as he was getting into the getaway vehicle. The manager was dragged down the street by the vehicle a short distance, and then the suspect punched the manager in the face, causing him to fall. The manager suffered non life-threatening injuries, and suspect fled the scene in the vehicle.
Bellevue crime scene investigators obtained fingerprints from the scene of the crime, which were processed by the Bellevue Police crime lab. Based on those fingerprints, Detectives identified the suspect, a 26 year-old resident of Vancouver, WA. The suspect was not a member of the armed forces.
Armed with the information, investigators with the Bellevue Special Operations Group (SOG) traveled to Vancouver, and, working with the Vancouver Police Department, arrested the suspect without incident last Friday. The suspect was transported to the King County Jail this week to face charges of second degree robbery. Investigators are continuing to work to identify the accomplice, as well as to locate the missing diamond.
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