Armed Robbery of Jared Vault in Sevierville May Be Connected to Robberies in Other States

The Sevierville Police Department is looking for a woman who robbed the Jared Vault jewelry store in Tanger Outlets on Friday morning and say it may be linked to similar armed robberies in other states.

Sevierville Police officers responded to a reported armed robbery at the Five Oaks Mall store at about 9:42 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. Jared Vault employees told police that a woman came into the store just after it opened and wielding a large caliber black and silver semi-automatic pistol, ordered them into the back office. The suspect tied the employees’ hands behind their backs with zip ties. The suspect returned to the store area, loaded an undisclosed amount of jewelry into a brown shopping bag and then left the store. The employees were not injured.

According to SPD Detective Milliron, the suspect was described as a white female between 25-30 years old with red hair (possibly a wig) and light brown eyebrows. She was wearing navy blue hospital scrubs, white shoes, and grey University of Alabama hat with the mascot elephant on the front and “bama” on the back strap, and carried a large silver purse.

The armed robbery of Jared Vault in Sevierville is similar to other jewelry store robberies in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Last month, the FBI issued a release seeking information on the Aug. 11, 2015 robbery of a Reeds Jewelers in Panama City Beach, Fla. In that case a white female in her 20s, about 5’8″ tall and 130 lbs., entered the store and displaying a handgun, zip-tied two employees’ hands and ordered them into the store’s restroom. Surveillance video shows a black male suspect in his late 30s or early 40s, approximately 6’0” tall and 250 pounds, removing the front door stop, shutting and locking the front door of the store. The female suspect then took jewelry from the display cases. Employees told police that the suspect had entered the store the day before the robbery and asked about the same items. Surveillance photos appear to show the suspect’s vehicle as a red 2009/2010 Honda Civic LX with tinted windows.

The white female and black male are also suspected in the armed robbery of a Jared Jewelry store in Woodstock, Ga., on April 28, 2015 and a Zale’s Jewelry store in Dawsonville, Ga. on August 5, 2015. Both robberies mirrored the Panama City Beach robbery and surveillance video shows the suspects appear to be of the same build.

An armed robbery of a Jared Jewelry store in Bluffton, S.C. on September 2, 2015 may also be related and involved a white female with a handgun whose description matches the woman in the previous three jewelry store robberies.

Following are photos obtained from surveillance cameras during the Panama City Beach Reeds Jewelers robbery investigation. Note that the black male suspect is not currently a suspect in the robbery of the Jared Vault in Sevierville, nor has the red 2009/2010 Honda Civic LX been linked to this case.

The FBI warns that these suspects are considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information about the Jared Vault robbery is requested to contact Detective Milliron at 865-868-1747.