Suspects in Durham jewelry store robbery, kidnapping surrender

Investigators said two men kidnapped an employee who had left Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, at 6813 Fayetteville Road, and then forced her to return and unlock the store around 11 p.m.

A third man, they said, followed them back to the store, where the three stole cash, a large amount of jewelry and the employee's car.

Watching the crime unfold on a live surveillance video feed, an operator for Jared's security provider reported it to 911 after the employee called to say she had to go back inside to get her wallet.

"She entered the location with two males who are wearing hooded sweatshirts, sunglasses and gloves, and they have entered the vault and are removing items at this moment," the operator said in a 911 call released Tuesday afternoon. "We can't tell if she's under duress at this time."

The suspected robbers then fled in the car as well as another vehicle and led police officers on a chase.

One car crashed into a concrete barrier on Meridian Parkway in Durham, and the driver, Denzel Timothy Rasheem Shivers, 19, of Fuquay-Varina, had to be removed and taken to a local hospital.

Vendai Larpist Irick, 22, of Fuquay-Varina, and Rodney Jerrold Devin Byrd, 20, of Cary, abandoned the second vehicle and jewelry on Kit Creek Road in Cary and fled on foot.

Irick turned himself in Tuesday afternoon, a Durham police spokeswoman said. Byrd surrendered a few hours later. 

Each of the three is charged with second-degree kidnapping, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, three counts of felony conspiracy and felony fleeing to elude arrest.

Irick and Byrd are each being held at the Durham County jail on $3 million bonds.

Anyone with information about the robbery should call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.

The store reopened late Tuesday morning, and management at the store declined to comment. A spokesman for Jared's parent company, Ohio-based Sterling Jewelers, declined to comment and referred all questions to Durham police.

Irick's aunt, Aves Irick, said Tuesday that he is a graduate of Cary High School.

"Right now, we're in total disbelief. We don't know what's going on," she said. "We're definitely in shock."