Four arrested after zip-tying, robbing people inside jewelry store

By KTVK/KPHO Digital News Staff

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    GLENDALE, Arizona (KTVK/KPHO) — Police say four men have been arrested after they held nine employees and customers at gunpoint at a Glendale jewelry store on Wednesday, stealing over $1.5 million worth of jewelry and cash. According to court documents, the robbery happened at a Jared jewelry store near 75th Avenue and Bell Road just before 7 p.m. Glendale police received a call from an employee saying a man was inside the store holding them at gunpoint.

According to court paperwork, when police arrived at the store, four men ran out of the business carrying pillowcases full of stolen jewelry, cash, and items stolen from employees. However, the men dropped the pillowcases and tried running away before the police caught them. Police later identified the men as Deandre Donte Haven, Garry Wayne Freeny, Kenneth Ray Walton Jr., and Monta Lamont Harris.

According to witnesses, four men in ski masks walked into the store and began yelling at everyone to get on the ground. Walton had a taser, and Harris had a gun, pointing it at several employees. According to court documents, the men then zip-tied the employees while lying on the ground. Harris then pointed a gun at the employee’s head while the three other men began stealing phones, car keys, and wallets. Haven then began smashing the display cases with a hammer, and the four men began shoving the jewelry into pillowcases.

Court documents state that Harris then held a gun to one of the employee’s heads and forced her to walk to a vault, where he then stole several hundred dollars in cash. As the robbery took place, one of the men shouted that police were there, and the men attempted to run away before they were eventually caught.

According to court paperwork, Haven denied being involved in the crime and said he was at a nearby restaurant with his brother when police stopped him. However, police were able to identify Haven from a nearby surveillance video, where he was seen running away from the jewelry store and changing his clothes. According to court documents, Freeny told officers someone had “threatened his family, and that was why he participated in the armed robbery.”

During an interview with investigators, Harris said he had traveled from California to Arizona and had just met the three other men the night of the crime. According to court documents, Harris told police “he needed money and made a bad decision.” Walton Jr. told police the robbery had been planned the day prior and admitted to tying up people inside the store and stealing the merchandise.

All four men were booked on nine counts of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, nine counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and nine counts of aggravated robbery. Freeny and Harris were additionally charged with nine counts of kidnapping. Harris was also booked on one count of possession of a weapon by a prohibited person.

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