3 Suspects Held in Robbery at Tustin Appraisal Firm

Police arrested three suspects after robbers ordered six employees at an appraisal firm to strip at gunpoint and then stole several sacks of jewelry.

The employees were not harmed. After receiving a silent alarm, police arrived at the Orange County Insurance Replacement and Appraisal Service at 400 N. Tustin Ave. to find the robbery still in progress, Sgt. Dick Faust said.

As officers pulled up in the parking lot about 11:30 a.m., one suspect posted as a lookout alerted two people inside the business that police had arrived and he took off running, Faust said. The two suspects inside the business, a man and a woman, allegedly fled through a back door with several sacks of jewelry, Faust said.

Officers caught the man and woman after a brief chase on foot, he said.

Other officers chased the man keeping watch for about three blocks to an apartment complex, Faust said. With the help of a police helicopter and residents in the complex, officers found the suspect hiding in a garage and arrested him.

Arrested were: Jerome Henderson, 18; Robert Hicks, also 18, both of Los Angeles, and Bilet Lafonta Harrington, 39, of Colton. They were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of robbery and assault, stemming from their ordering the employees to disrobe, police said.

Police later recovered the jewelry and a 9-millimeter gun, Faust said. The suspects’ vehicle recovered at the scene had been reported stolen from Los Angeles, he said.