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MIDVALE -- Jewelry store owner and manager James Kelly is taking a stand against thieves.
Last Saturday, two men attempted to rob his store, Kelly Jewelers in Midvale. When one man pulled out a gun and threw the other man a roll of duct tape, Kelly surprised the two with his own handgun. The armed man fled the scene and police arrested the second man on suspicion of aggravated robbery.
Kelly is joined by other Utah store owners who use their right to carry a concealed weapon to protect themselves and their goods - particularly a commodity as hot for thieves as jewelry.
"We don't want aggression, we don't want to fight people," Kelly said. "You know, we don't want confrontation at all. But unfortunately there's those individuals that in one way or another are going to be violent."
Earlier this week, three people flashed a gun at Diamond's Custom Jewelry in Cottonwood Heights, smashed the glass cases and got away with some jewelry. Police arrested one woman and two others are still on the run. This trend of jewelry store robberies has Kelly and others taking security into their own hands.
"You want to give people the benefit of the doubt but unfortunately, there are a lot of crazies out there," Kelly said. "So you know, you just kinda have to be cautious and protect yourself where you can."
Though Kelly is not about to rely solely on an alarm, he says that because of his alarm system, police only took two minutes to get to Kelly's store once he triggered it..
They are still looking for the man who had the gun that was with Hernandez. If you have any information, you are asked to call police at 801- 743-7000.
