[August 19, 2011] Bandits foiled during Radnor jewelry store heist Tweet Aug 19, 2011 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Police in Radnor Township are seeking two bandits who they believe worked together when one cased a Wayne jewelry store and the second tried to rob it at gunpoint later Thursday, but was chased off by a civilian. The first man drew the suspicion of owners at the Amirian Jewelry store in the 200 block of W. Lancaster Ave. Thursday by asking to see only high-end engagement rings, said Det. Sgt. Andy Block. The man, described as white, tall, blond and wearing jeans and a blue shirt and tinted glasses, wanted to look at $25,000 to $30,000 rings. When store owners declined to show him the rings, he promised to return later with a cashier's check, Block said. A witness told police the man drove off at about 3 p.m. in a blue, old-model Mercedes station wagon, Block said. The old car and the pricey rings led authorities to think he was setting the store up for a robbery. "He is a person of interest," Block said. "We believe he was casing the establishment." An hour later, a Hispanic man with a dark, bristly mustache and wearing a Panama hat, demanded to see the costly rings. When the store owners refused, he sprayed pepper spray in their faces and displayed a handgun, Block said. The male store owner engaged the bandit in a fight that moved "from the back of the store to the front," Block said. A witness chased the bandit in the parking lot until the man turned and threatened him with the handgun, Block said. The bandit was last seen fleeing on foot along W. Wayne Avenue to Bloomingdale Avenue. A K9 dog brought to the crime scene by the Chester County Sheriff's office and Upper Darby police lost the bandit's scent where W. Wayne Avenue meets Bloomingdale, Block said. The Hispanic man wore a yellow polo shirt and khaki pants. His handgun may have had a silencer, Block said. Both the men were believed to be in their 30s. Ventilation fans were needed to clear the air inside the store before investigators could process the crime scene, Block said. Police Superintendent William Colarulo said the pepper spray was so thick that right after the crime even outside the store, "I was gagging." The store's owners were treated by medics for pepper spray inhalation. There was no surveillance camera to capture video of the two men, but Block said witnesses gave precise descriptions of the men and the Mercedes, believed to be a model made between 1983 and 1986. Anyone with information may contact Radnor Police at 610-688-0503, Block said. Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or [email protected]. Read her blog, "MontCo Memo," at www.philly.com/montcomemo. Follow the Inquirer at www.Twitter.com/PhillyInquirer and www.Facebook.com/PhillyInquirer To see more of The Philadelphia Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.philly.com/inquirer. Copyright (c) 2011, The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]