By Phil Custodio

Sheriff’s Detectives from the Independence Township Substation and Detectives from the Sheriff’s Special Investigation Unit investigate the crash scene at the gate to Lakeview Cemetery, 6:45 p.m., Saturday, where two jewelry store robbery suspects were rammed by one of their victims.

According to police, two men entered the Clarkston Jewelry Outlet in the 7000 block of Dixie Highway south of White Lake Road, 4:03 p.m., Dec. 17, and pointed guns at the owners, a 51-year-old Springfield Township man and his son, a 20-year-old Springfield Township man,
The two robbers, both wearing ski masks and dark clothing, demanded all of the jewelry and the money in the safe. They told the victims to lie on the floor and both complied.
One of the suspects began rummaging through one of the smaller safes. At one point, the 20-year-old said he heard the other suspect call for the other to come into the back room and shoot his father. That suspect walked into the back room and fired a single shot at the 51-year-old, hitting the floor near him causing an injury to the victim’s lower back. The suspect then began striking the victim in the head with his gun. The suspects ordered the younger victim to open the larger safe. Once the safe was opened, he told the robbers to take what they wanted.
The suspects took an unknown amount of cash and jewelry and a handgun from the safe. One suspect left through the front door and fled on foot, and the second fled through the back.
At this point, the father left the store and got into his pickup truck. He drove northbound on Dixie Highway and turned east onto White Lake Road. He saw the suspects in a vehicle stopped at the Lakeview Cemetery, and attempted to block the vehicle in.
One of the suspects got out of the car and fired 2 to 3 rounds at the 51-year-old, missing him. The victim then rammed the suspects’ car with his pickup, stopping the suspects from leaving. One suspect fled on foot, and was taken into custody by responding deputies near the water tower northwest of the intersection of Dixie Highway and White Lake Road. He was armed with a loaded Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
The second suspect fled into the cemetery in the opposite direction. A perimeter was set up by responding deputies. The second suspect fled across Middle Lake, which is now frozen. An OCSO K-9 picked up the track on the other side of the lake. The track led to a home in the 6000 block of Middle Lake Road, where the suspect entered an attached garage through a window he broke out. He was able to steal a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, which had the keys in it. The homeowners were not home at the time. An area search was conducted for the Jeep but it was not located. The second subject remains at large.
The 51-year-old was treated and released from McLaren Oakland for the wound to his back from the fragment gunshot, and cuts and bruises suffered from the pistol whipping.
The OCSO Forensic Science Lab was requested and responded to process the scene. The suspect who was apprehended, a 48-year-old Detroit man on parole with an extensive criminal history, was subsequently lodged at the Oakland County Jail pending the issuance of criminal charges.
Two handguns and the victim’s hand gun were recovered as was all of the jewelry and money taken in the robbery. There is video of the incident but it cannot be released at this time as the Sheriff’s Computer Crimes Unit is in the process of downloading it. The incident remains under investigation.
Anyone with information on the second suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. You can remain anonymous and there is a minimum of a $1,000 cash reward.

  armed robbery, clarkston, lakeview cemetery