The West Bend Police Department announcing today that five people from Detroit, Michigan have been indicted in the Dec. 29, 2014 robbery of Husar’s House of Fine Diamonds, 131 N. Main Street in West Bend
“I always thought they would find them but I didn’t think they’d find them this fast,” Mike Husar said during a one-on-one conversation Tuesday evening.
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Husar credited the “due diligence and fortitude of the West Bend Police Department” with keeping the case in front of the FBI and eventually solving the crime.
“They were staying in very close contact with us,” said Husar. “It was because of Detective McCarthy’s push and the police chief and Detective Richard Lucka and the entire detective bureau at the West Bend Police Department, their pushing the feds to keep working. Without their initiative this would have never happened.”
Even though the robbery happened in December,Husar said he knew eventually they would be hit because of the crime wave sweeping across the country.
“They were checking us out,” said Husar acknowledging an earlier attempt the robbers made to case the store.
“Through the efforts and alertness of our staff and the response of the West Bend Police Department we stalled it,” he said. “But the size of this group, they’re very patient and they couldn’t get us when it was slow – they had to get us when it was busy and everybody’s guard would not be on high alert and that’s why they hit when they did.”
Starting in July 2014 smash-and-grab robberies were part of a national crime spree that was well documented from Washington D.C. to Long Island, New York, Raleigh, North Carolina to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Witness complaints and surveillance video all caught the same thing – men wearing hoodies, smashing display cases with hammers and snatching pricey merchandise before running out of the store. Rolex watches were hot-ticket items.
The incident at Husar’s followed a similar pattern.
On Monday, Dec. 29 just before 4 p.m. five men walked into the store with hammers, shattered a display case and stole a number of high-end watches. The incident took about 30 seconds and Mike Husar said, “The robbers were professionals.”
“Yes, we had customers in the store at the time,” Mike Husar said praising his staff. “I wasn’t on the showroom floor at the time, but the people who were on the floor knew exactly what was going on from the moment the men walked in. Staff performed flawlessly; they did exactly what they were trained to do, everybody was alerted to what was going on and nobody was injured.”
Multiple calls were made to police and Mike Husar said they were at the store in a matter of moments. “It is unnerving,” he said.
“You can never be prepared for this type of situation. This is why we train, and things get committed to memory. I believe that’s why everybody was unharmed because we are prepared to do as best we can.”
Husar praised the law enforcement in Washington County as a critical debriefing team came in immediately after the incident and worked with staff through the trauma.
The West Bend police detective bureau, working in conjunction with the FBI, made several trips to Detroit to interview suspects.
Husar said they were notified about a week ago that police had made significant headway on the case.
“It’s important for people to realize West Bend is a safe community,” said Husar.
“Things happen but because of the due diligence of the West Bend Police Department this is a very safe community.
“This department has the ability to solve major crime and keep crime out of this community.”
Questioned whether he’ll have to testify, Husar said he did not know. Husar initially thought all the merchandise was pawned to the Far East. He doesn’t expect he’ll get any items back because the insurance company paid out on the claim.
A press conference at Husar’s House of Fine Diamonds will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 131 N. Main Street in West Bend.