He is one of four men charged after the August 2012 burglary at Hamilton Jewelers in Lawrence.
Derek Sherrill, 40, of Philadelphia is charged with robbing Hamilton Jewelers in Lawrence last summer. LAWRENCE — DNA evidence led authorities to four Philadelphia men who robbed Hamilton Jewelers in Lawrence of $393,000 worth of high-end merchandise last summer, a prosecutor said yesterday.
Derek Sherrill, 40, Darrell Williams, 42, and Rufus Lawson, 47, walked into the store on Business Route 1 last August wearing bandanas over their faces, smashed open several glass cases with a sledgehammer, took the jewelry, mainly watches, and fled from the store, Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Moran said.
David Story, 43, allegedly drove them away in a silver Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Witnesses saw them enter the car and speed off on Business Route 1, the prosecutor said. They were involved in a minor accident in Lawrence and drove off, and shortly afterward a car matching the description of the getaway vehicle was in a crash on I-95 in Pennsylvania, police said.
The four men fled the accident scene in a different vehicle, Moran said. In the abandoned car at the accident scene police found latex gloves and bandanas, and the DNA on a bandana led authorities to Sherrill, she said.
The four men are charged with robbery and theft, and all but Story are also charged with criminal mischief, said Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Although the men had a sledgehammer there is no evidence they were otherwise armed, Moran said. Initial reports of possible gunshots actually resulted from the sound of the sledgehammer breaking the glass, she said. No one was injured during the robbery.
Sherrill and Story were arrested in Pennsylvania last month and the other men were already in state custody in Pennsylvania on unrelated charges, Lawrence Police Detective Todd Caruso said.
Sherrill has been extradited to New Jersey and the other three men also face extradition, Caruso said. At a hearing in Trenton yesterday Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez maintained Sherrill’s bail at $75,000.
The robbery was the second in two years at the Lawrence location of Hamilton Jewelers. The company later announced it would close the store this month and move the inventory to the Princeton branch, while denying the closing had anything to do with the robberies.
Contact Brendan McGrath at (609)989-5731 or at bmcgrath@njtimes.com.
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