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ALTON – Alton Police Chief Jason Simmons said he believes the bomb threat called into the Argosy last night and the strong-armed robbery of Kay Jewelers at 1702 Homer Adams Parkway on Monday evening may be related.
Simmons said the bomb threat to the Argosy was made 13 minutes before the jewelry store was robbed. He said it was not uncommon to see a criminal or their accomplice make such a threat before committing a major crime in order to ensure police were not near the scene of where they planned to do it. Since the Argosy is on the south side of town and the jewelry store is further north, Simmons said the plan was to get the police department away from the jewelry store with the bomb threat as a rouse.
Nothing was found near the Argosy, and the Alton Police Department contacted the Secretary of State Police, who work with such threats. They gave the site an “all clear.”
The person who allegedly robbed the Kay Jewelers is described as a black male standing 5'10'' wearing a black jacket, gray shirt, jeans and a white bandanna over his face. Further surveillance footage is being analyzed from nearby businesses and a police canine unit tracked the suspect's trail to the area behind Lowe's near Oakwood Estates.
Simmons said detectives are hard at work analyzing those videos and tracing the calls made regarding the bomb threat. He hoped more information would be available soon.Steven Spencer also contributed to this story.
