HILLSBORO, Ore. – This week Oregon Circuit Judge Andy Erwin sentenced two Washington men to prison for their roles in a dramatic smash and grab heist of a jewelry store in Washington Square Mall. Brandon Sullivan and Darereon Newton were convicted in separate court trials of Aggravated Theft in the First Degree and Criminal Mischief in the First Degree. Sullivan was also found guilty of additional charges stemming from the high-speed chase that followed the theft. Sullivan was sentenced to a total of thirty four months incarceration. Newton was sentenced to fifteen months in prison.
On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, at about 12:15pm three men and one woman walked single file into the Ben Bridge Jewelers store at Washington Square. They went straight to the Rolex displays where two of the men revealed hidden sledge hammers and suddenly began smashing the reinforced glass of the jewelry cases. Once a case broke open the group grabbed twenty one watches and ran out of the mall to two waiting cars, pursued on foot and filmed by civilian witnesses. The incident lasted less than a minute. The take was about $400,000 in retail value.
The incident generated a high volume of 911 calls, including some that reported “shots fired” in the mall due to the noise of the hammers on the glass cases. During the large law enforcement response a Beaverton Police officer spotted one of the suspect vehicles heading northbound on Highway 217 and attempted to stop it. The driver instead fled westbound on Highway 26 at high speed, pursued by multiple police units. After the vehicle exited at Murray Blvd and was slowed by traffic two passengers, Newton and Shakira Karriem, jumped out and fled on foot. They were apprehended nearby. Karriem, the female thief from inside the mall, had over $200,000 worth of watches in her backpack. Officers finally forced the vehicle to a stop on nearby Barnes Road where they arrested the driver, Sullivan. The other vehicle and remaining suspect(s) got away.
Officers from the Beaverton and Tigard Police Departments as well as deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office cooperated in responding to this incident and conducting the resulting investigation. These cases were only three of over 900 felony property crime cases filed by the Washington County District Attorney’s Office so far in 2017. Successful prosecutions of Aggravated Theft in the First Degree alone have resulted in over $800,000 in restitution ordered to be repaid to victims so far this year.
