Three arrested in heist try

Marisa O’Neil

Three men wielding handguns robbed a jewelry store Wednesday morning

and one barricaded himself in a nearby shop for two hours before

surrendering, police said. The standoff closed the Corona del Mar

Plaza at MacArthur Boulevard and Coast Highway for more than three

hours Wednesday, after police received a silent-alarm call at 10:40

a.m. from Jewels by Joseph, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman

said.

Police arrested two men, Los Angeles residents Herbert Nelson

Kirkwood, 31, and Dominick Edwards, 32, as they ran out the back

door. A third Los Angeles man, Kenney Dwayne Watkins, 27, ran into

Gelato Paradiso next door, causing employees there to flee into

Lingerie et Chocolat, on the other side of the jewelry store, police

said.

“A man and a woman [from Gelato Paradiso] ran inside the store and

right to the back,” Lingerie et Chocolat employee Crystal Comstock

said. “They said, ‘There’s a guy with a gun.’”

Comstock locked the front door and huddled in the back until

officers evacuated workers from the stores. During the standoff,

yellow police tape, patrol cars and SWAT officers with guns drawn

filled the upscale center’s parking lot.

“It was kind of nuts,” New Balance store manager Michael

Weisenburger said of the scene.

Officers used a bullhorn to coax Watkins out of the gelato store

and threatened to send in a police dog, Shulman said. Watkins finally

surrendered peacefully to police at 2:15 p.m., Shulman said.

It appeared that he had hidden in the ceiling and tunneled back

toward the jewelry store in an attempt to escape, Shulman said.

Police found a handgun and jewelry in a trash can inside the gelato

store, he said. Police also recovered diamonds in the pocket of one

of the other suspects, Shulman said.

The three men had entered the store with handguns, demanding

jewelry from the two employees inside, Shulman said. When officers

arrived, Kirkwood andEdwards tried to run out the back door, where

police arrested them.

Kirkwood and Edwards each face one count of robbery, Shulman said.

Watkins faces an additional robbery charge because he demanded the

car keys of one of the gelato employees.

Kirkwood and Watkins were in custody Wednesday night and not

eligible for bail because of parole violations, Shulman said. Edwards

was being held on $100,000 bail.

Comstock speculated that the men may have been drawn to the store

by reports that it was hosting a $2.3-million, 13.42-carat diamond.

The diamond was on display through Saturday, Shulman said, and was

long gone before the robbery.

Workers at the store were not available for comment, one employee

said, “except to say that everyone’s just fine.”

The excitement of the standoff was an unusual sight, Weisenburger

said.

“We were kind of scared,” he said. “But at the same time, there

was a big Suburban parked right out front with a guy holding a

machine gun. So I figured if anyone tried to run, he’d get him.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.