Fort Worth Police have reportedly arrested nine people in connection to a smash-and-grab robbery that took place at a grocery store.
The incident took place at roughly 5 p.m. on February 9 inside an El Rancho Supermercado and involved four individuals acting as lookouts, one driver remaining in the vehicle, and four more individuals who went inside, per NBC 5 DFW.
Those involved in the robbery allegedly pepper-sprayed El Rancho employees and smashed jewelry cases before taking the valuable items inside.
Lourdes Torres, who was inside the store and preparing to check out when the incident in Fort Worth took place, said it was “something really terrible” and described the moment as “scary.”
“Suddenly, we couldn’t breathe; we started covering our mouths because we started coughing,” she said, according to NBC 5 DFW.
Fort Worth Police stated that they were able to locate the vehicles allegedly used in the crimes in McKinney, which led them to contact the McKinney Police Department to acquire help before the arrest, per The Dallas Morning News.
Police were also able to recover roughly $100,000 worth of jewelry that was allegedly stolen during the robbery. However, it is unclear whether it is the entirety of what was taken, per NBC 5 DFW.
Eight individuals were arrested in connection with this robbery: 17-year-old Daniya Smith, 22-year-old Reginald Mitchell, 23-year-old Vanessa Thompson, 25-year-old Christian Venson, 26-year-old Shonton Howard, 36-year-old Lester Emerson, 36-year-old Dexter Mitchell Jr., and 51-year-old Dexter Mitchell, as reported by DMN.
The ninth individual is reportedly a juvenile 16-year-old and has not been identified.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted on X and said multiple individuals arrested in connection to this robbery are suspected of also committing crimes in the Houston area.
“This crew is suspected in carrying out similar crimes in the Dallas area, as well as others in the greater Houston/Harris County area. We hope these offenders get prosecuted to the fullest extent,” he wrote.