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6 Charged in New Jersey Jewelry Store Smash-and-Grabs

nj smash grab featured 6 Charged in New Jersey Jewelry Store Smash-and-GrabsReading Time: 4 minutes
6 Charged in New Jersey Jewelry Store Smash-and-Grabs

Image: NJ.com (source)

Key Takeaways

  • Six face Hobbs Act charges in N.J. daytime jewelry store smash-and-grabs.
  • DNA on glass, sledgehammer buys on video, and a getaway crash drove the case.
  • Harden open-hours glass, drill silent alarms, and preserve scene evidence fast.

Six people now face federal jewelry store smash-and-grab charges after U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced Hobbs Act robbery counts tied to daytime hits on jewelry stores in Paterson, Union City, and Wayne, New Jersey. According to federal prosecutors and NJ.com reporting, masked and gloved crews smashed glass doors and windows with crowbars or sledgehammers, broke display cases, and stole jewelry. At the same time, the stores were open and customers were inside. Losses across the series reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater. The charges are accusations; defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

According to NJ.com, prosecutors detailed how evidence linked the alleged crews. In the May 14, 2025, Paterson robbery, blood on broken glass allegedly matched DNA to Shaquan Jones, 24, of Newark, and Kayron Caldwell, 34, of Newark. Investigators said Jones later stored cloud photos of himself holding cash with a bandaged hand, and Caldwell searched online for butterfly bandages and wound care. Blood DNA also allegedly linked Derreck Proctor, 33, of Newark, to a March 7, 2026, Union City robbery — after security video showed him buying two 10-pound sledgehammers with cash weeks earlier. In Wayne on June 16, 2026, Terrance Drakeford, 33, of Paterson, was taken at a getaway crash; Corey Boyd, 29, and Wyzier Peterson, 28, both of Paterson, were later identified and arrested. The DOJ statement also noted similar smash tactics against jewelry stores in Staten Island, New York, since early 2025.

FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy said customers were caught in the middle of violent robberies by masked men who showed little regard for anyone who might get hurt, and credited the partnership with state and local agencies. For jewelers, the operational lesson is blunt. Open-hours smash crews do not wait for the vault; they treat the front door and the first row of cases as the inventory. Thin plate glass, staff clustered at the threshold, and no rehearsed silent-alarm path give them the sixty-second window they need. Gold and diamond trays left dense in floor cases make the take worth the risk even when cameras are rolling.

Treat this federal case as a Monday checklist, not a distant crime blotter. Limit how much high-value stock sits in the first case line during the day. Rehearse where every associate stands when glass breaks — hands visible, customers moved back, silent alarm hit, no chase into the lot. Keep DVR export steps written down so crash-scene video, blood on glass, and tool-buy footage can go to police the same day. Hobbs Act cases prove multi-jurisdiction crews can be charged when partners share DNA and video; your job is to survive the minute of chaos and hand investigators something useful. Stay open, harden the glass, and make daytime smash-and-grab the hardest hour of a crew’s week.

Source: https://www.nj.com/news/2026/10/six-charged-in-series-of-violent-jewelry-store-smash-and-grab-robberies-across-nj.html

The post 6 Charged in New Jersey Jewelry Store Smash-and-Grabs appeared first on Southern Jewelry News.



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