Two roommates from Irvington are accused of using a stolen vehicle to drive to the New York State town of Hartsdale, where they used sledgehammers to break into a jewelry store and steal approximately $1.7 million worth of jewelry.
Kevin Williams, 26, and Byron Wilson, 24, both of Irvington, are charged with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and Hobbs Act robbery, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to Matthew Podolsky, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. Williams and Wilson were arrested on March 25.
“Armed with sledgehammers, the defendants smashed their way in and then plundered the store of about $1.7 million in jewelry, diamonds, and luxury watches, all while innocent customers and employees hid for their safety,” Podolsky said.
The alleged robbery occurred on Dec. 16. Williams, Wilson, and co-conspirators drove a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee with a stolen license plate from New Jersey to New York.
At around 11:07 a.m., they arrived at a jewelry store in the Westchester Square shopping plaza in Hartsdale, parked in front, got out of the vehicle, and sledgehammered their way into the store, police said.
Once inside, and while customers cowered in fear for their safety, the robbers smashed jewelry display cases and stole jewelry, diamonds, and luxury watches.
They loaded the goods into bags they brought with them. Among the items taken were more than 70 Rolex watches, police said.
The group returned to their vehicle with the bags of stolen goods and drove back to New Jersey, police said.
Once they arrived in New Jersey, Williams drove to the Diamond District in New York City, while Wilson returned to their shared residence. A few hours later, Williams, Wilson, and their co-conspirators took photographs of themselves holding large stacks of cash.
Since August 2024, the Nassau County Police Department on Long Island has been investigating a series of jewelry store robberies. As part of its investigation, law enforcement officials identified GPS location information showing that phones associated with specific numbers – which they later found matched phone numbers held by Williams and Wilson – were in the area of several of these robberies.
The subsequent investigation of the Hartsdale robbery revealed that the cell phone numbers held by Williams and Wilson travelled from the area of the residence they shared in Irvington to the jewelry store, remained in the vicinity of the jewelry store around the time of the robbery, and then travelled back to New Jersey, police said.
Cell phone location information later showed the Williams phone located in the vicinity of West 47th Street and Sixth Avenue, which is an area of New York City known as the “Diamond District,” police said.
At around 3:25 p.m., cell phone location information showed that the Williams phone left the Diamond District and then headed back towards New Jersey.
At around 4:45 p.m., cell phone location information showed the Wilson phone in the area of an address in Newark around the same time the Williams phone was in the area.
A review of Wilson’s phone, which was later obtained by police, had pictures of Wilson and Williams both displaying large amounts of cash. Wilson’s phone also revealed that he had viewed several articles about the robbery in Hartsdale, police said.
In the wake of the robbery, law enforcement conducted surveillance at the Williams and Wilson residence on at least three occasions and eventually searched it before making the arrests.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not provide any information about the status of the remaining two suspects.
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