45°
Police in South Carolina retrieved some of the stolen goods but let a trio of suspects they’d stopped go because they hadn’t committed a crime in their state.
The victims travel around the country selling jewelry at various trade and craft shows, Carlstadt Police Chief Thomas Nielsen told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
They were staying as guests at the Hampton Inn while doing business at the 38th Annual American Crafts Festival at Lincoln Center, he said.
Just after 10 p.m. last Saturday, the man and woman told police, they were approached by the robbers after parking behind the hotel.
The man was carrying a backpack with the jewelry inside, Nielsen said. He was knocked down and restrained and the bag was snatched, the pair said.
The robbers then took off in a car parked nearby, they said.
They described the bandits as young adults, white or Hispanic, from 5-foot-8 to 6 feet tall, all wearing dark clothing and “possibly” hooded sweatshirts or ski masks.
Two days ago, the woman was contacted by the Colleton County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina, which said that a deputy found her business information, jewelry and ski masks and gloves after stoppping a car with three Hispanic men in it.
The deputies there seized the jewelry but let the trio go because they hadn’t committed a crime in South Carolina, Nielsen explained.
Carlstadt Detective Sgt. David Smith contacted colleagues in Colleton County and is continuing the investigation, the chief said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rutherford and receive free news updates.
