Stolen car found in jewelry store robbery/kidnapping

EAST NORRITON, Pa. - February 6, 2013

Only Action News was there as East Norriton police examined the white Volkswagen Passat they had been looking for. It belongs to one of the victims, who owns the Shuler's Jewelry store nearby.

Police say four masked gunmen got away with more than a million dollars in merchandise. They had ambushed the store owner and his wife at their Chester County home last week, and then drove them to Shuler's in the Passat to rob them again. Police say Action News viewers contacted them about the car, after seeing our report on the case Tuesday night at 11. Maher Loghmari and Dea Antoniolo say the 2012 Volkswagen Passat had been parked near their home on Mill Street in East Norriton since at least Thursday of last week.

A $25,000 reward was announced Tuesday for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the four gunmen.

It was back on January 31st at around 7:00 p.m. that the owner of Shuler's Jewelry was accosted by the gunmen in the driveway of his home in the Berwyn section of Tredyffrin Township.

He was taken inside his home where he and his wife were tied up with duct tape.

The suspects then put the victim in the backseat of his car and drove him to his jewelry store, where he would be robbed again.

"The individual was taken in his own car, held down in the back seat with a hood over his head," Tredyffrin Township Police Detective Sgt. Todd Bereda said.

At the jewelry store, he was forced to open two safes and the bandits helped themselves to $1.5-million in jewelry.

Police are now working with the FBI and regional law enforcement to see if this crime may be connected to the Bixler Jewelry store robbery in South Whitehall back in December which also began with a home invasion in Bethlehem.

"The more jobs these people were involved in committing, the greater the chance that evidence or transferred evidence from one person to another, from one crime scene to another that can be gathered," Bereda said.

Police believe these men are practiced professionals who are bound to strike again. They fear someone could get hurt.

The reward is being offered by the Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company ($20,000) and the Pennsylvania Jeweler's Association ($5,000).

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tredyffrin Township Police Department at 610-647-1440.

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