Two men were in jail, a third was on the run and a ring worth more than $20,000 was missing after a jewelry store heist in Bryan on Wednesday afternoon.

Joe Curtis Tennell, 21, and Howard Louis Jefferson III, 21, were charged with third-degree felony theft. A third man was missing, and police had been unable to use a trail of blood he left behind or information from his alleged companions to identify him or track him down.

According to police and witnesses, three men entered Fling Jewelers on Wilde Oak Circle off of 29th Street near Bryan High School about 4 p.m. and asked to see a ring. After store owner Sam Fling handed them the ring, the men ran, with Fling chasing after them.

Fling managed to catch Jefferson and hold him until police arrived. The other two men ran in opposite directions, witnesses said.

Authorities said they received several 911 calls reporting gunshots coming from the store, but police could not confirm shots had been fired Wednesday.

Cory Davis, a Bryan High student who said he came upon the commotion while walking home from school, said he heard gunshots and saw three men running from the shop.

"I heard 'pop-pop-pop-pop-pop,' five gunshots," Davis said, adding that he thought the shots were fired into the air.

Officers said they could not find bullet casings or any evidence of shots being fired. The glass door of the shop was shattered during the incident and pieces lay outside the store, but police said the broken glass and noises could have come from the door being slammed as the men ran from the building.

While police investigated the scene and spoke to the three employees inside the store, all of whom are relatives, other officers scoured the area in search of the two men.

About an hour after being called to the scene, search dogs found Tennell hiding at a house less than a mile from the store, police said. While being booked into jail on theft charges, officers learned he had five warrants for assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing bodily injury, failure to identify as a fugitive and two failures to appear in court for a drunken driving charge.

Police said the charges against the two men could be changed once more details are known.

Fling family members repeatedly declined to comment on the robbery Wednesday.

The stolen ring had not been located Wednesday, police said, leading them to believe that the third man had it. Witnesses described him as black, 6 feet 2 inches tall and about 180 pounds.

Police would not describe the ring or say how much it was worth, but according to the Texas Penal Code, the item must be worth between $20,000 and $100,000 for the men to face third-degree felony theft charges.

Both men were being held without bail in the Brazos County Jail on Wednesday night.

• Matthew Watkins' e-mail address is matthew.watkins@theeagle.com.

Comments

(Requires free registration.)

0 comment(s) found!