MIDTOWN — Police caught two of the five men they believe are responsible for the bold midday smash-and-grab robbery of $700,000 in watches from Cartier's Fifth Avenue store, Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday.
And investigators believe that the suspects may be responsible for more heists in the city, according to Bratton.
Allen Williams, 35, of Bed-Stuy, was arrested about 6:30 a.m. and charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property. Roberto Grant, 33, of Brownsville, was also arrested in the morning and charged with robbery.
"I’m pleased to report that literally less than 24 hours later we have two suspects in custody, recovered some of the property,” the commissioner said. "Our anticipation is that we will be able to solve a number of other New York City-related cases as a result of that."
The masked, hammer-wielding thieves smashed a glass case at the Cartier, near 52nd Street, about 12:30 p.m. Thursday and snatched 16 watches worth $709,000, police said.
The suspects fled in a red Honda Civic and a silver sedan, the spokesman said.
Bratton said that the men could be tied to other similar crimes.
“There’s been a series of similar-type robberies and we’re comfortable we may, in fact, be able to deal with some of those as we go forward," he said. "A great job on the part of the detectives."
