Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged three men in connection with the armed robbery of more than $500,000 worth of jewelry and precious metals from a Lawrence jewelry store in December.
Eric Rosario, 26, Rosnel Polanco, 26, and Robert Santana, 29, all of whom are Lawrence residents, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. Santana was arrested Wednesday while Rosario and Polanco were already in custody on related state charges, according to acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy’s office.
All three men will appear in federal court in Boston at a “later date,” Levy’s office wrote in a statement.
Prosecutors say the trio entered a Lawrence jewelry store armed with guns on Dec. 15, 2023. Numerous employees were inside the store at the time and told police their jewelry and cellphones were stolen, according to the statement.
The three men are then accused of pointing guns at the victims’ heads and pressing the guns to their backs as they brought the employees downstairs to the basement where the store’s office and safes were located, Levy’s office said.
Once they were downstairs, the trio forced the store owner to open the safes, according to the statement. In all, roughly $500,000 worth of jewelry and precious metals were stolen.
A second safe could not be opened, prosecutors said.
After robbing the store, prosecutors say the trio fled in a rented Nissan Altima that was found “burned and torched” in a field in Maine the next day.