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(HAMMOND) — A Detroit man has pleaded guilty in a smash-and-grab robbery during which he and two others allegedly stole more than $1 million in jewelry from a northwestern Indiana jewelry store.
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Darren S. Bell, 29, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Hammond to a federal charge of armed robbery that interfered with interstate commerce.
The court hasn’t set Bell’s sentencing date.
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Police and prosecutors allege that in January 2019, Bell, Altonio D. Benson, 40, of Detroit and a third unidentified individual entered a jewelry store in Hobart, located its most expensive jeweled pendants and began smashing display cases with hammers and taking jewelry.
All three fled the store with $1,009,145 worth of miscellaneous jewelry in bags, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
Hobart police captured Bell and Benson nearby and later recovered more than $500,000 worth of stolen jewelry as well as two sledgehammers left inside the store.
The third suspect escaped after he drove a minivan from the jewelry store.
Benson is awaiting a trial that’s now scheduled for March.