9 people held hostage as armed thieves steal over $1.5M in jewelry at Jared store, police say

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A Jared store employee made a frantic 911 call as four armed robbers wearing ski masks busted in, ABC15 reported.

They are suspected of stealing nearly $2 million worth of jewelry and cash at the Arizona store.

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"The alarm's going off. Everything is shattered. They tied us up and put us at gunpoint," the caller said.

"Okay, what's the address there? Do you know?" said the 911 operator.

"I can't speak. I have to hang up. I'm sorry," the caller said.

"What's the address?" the 911 operator repeated.

"I'm sorry," the caller said.

"What's the address?" the 911 operator asked again.

"It's at 75th and Bell," the caller said.

Seven employees and two customers inside the Glendale store at the time. The accused robbers used zip ties to keep them from escaping while also holding them at gunpoint.

"Because this woman was courageous enough and brave enough to call 911 and leave that line open, we could hear the four guys in the background yelling hurry up, get more. We could hear them using a hammer to break several of the glass cases," said Glendale Police Officer Tiffany Ngalula.

Officers then arrived at the store and the four men ran off in different directions. They strategically placed a gun in the door on the way out.

"That's how they left the gun because," Ngalula said. "One, they knew the police were already there and two, I mean, you can think what you want, there's potential that they thought maybe this would scare anybody from exiting."

But police were following close behind.

All four men were eventually taken into custody. The majority, if not all, of the jewelry and cash was recovered.