THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502180512
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
An observant bystander and some fast work by Chesapeake police brought about the swift arrest Friday of three people wanted in the robbery of a Wards Corner jewelry store.
About 12:15 p.m., a woman walked into Leeds' Jewelers in the 100 block of W. Little Creek Road. She was followed by a man.
The woman approached the store manager and pulled out a container of mace. She grabbed the manager and sprayed him in the face, incapacitating him, said Larry Hill, a police spokesman.
The woman and the man who had followed her into the store stole a large amount of jewelry and fled. Police declined to state the value of the jewelry taken but said it was substantial.
The thieves might have made a clean getaway, Hill said, except for a bystander outside the store who saw them run out and jump into a waiting vehicle. He took note of the silver Jeep Cherokee's license plate.
Moments later, the robbery was reported, and the witness gave the license plate number and vehicle description to police.
Hill said Norfolk police learned that the vehicle was registered to a Chesapeake resident. They notified police in that city.
Just 10 minutes after the jewel heist, Chesapeake police spotted the Jeep Cherokee at the intersection of Mill Creek Parkway and Holly Ridge Drive.
The three people in the Jeep were arrested without incident. All the stolen jewelry was recovered.
Arrested and charged with robbery and conspiracy were Nora Couch, 21, of the 6100 block of Edward St. in Norfolk and Jeffrey E. Hardy, 31, and his brother Todd Hardy, 26, both of the 3200 block of Holly Ridge Drive.
KEYWORDS: ARREST ROBBERY by CNB