BOSTON – Three Lawrence men are charged with robbing employees at a Lawrence store at gunpoint and stealing $500,000 in jewelry and precious metals in December.
Authorities unsealed a criminal complaint charging Eric “Maniactico” Rosario, 26; Rosnel Polanco, 26; and Robert “Piccarine” Santana, who is also known as Amaury Perez, 29, with one count each of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery.
Santana was arrested Wednesday. Rosario and Polanco were previously arrested on related state charges and remain in custody. The defendants will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, according to a joint statement released by the Department of Justice for federal, state and local law enforcement.
On Dec. 15, 2023, the armed trio allegedly entered a Lawrence jewelry store.
The men first robbed numerous employees of their jewelry and cell phones, according to charging documents.
The trio then allegedly pointed firearms at the victims’ heads and pressed the firearms to their backs as they brought the employees downstairs to the basement where the jewelry store’s office and safes were located, authorities said.
Once downstairs, the defendants allegedly forced the owner of the store to open the safes containing the jewelry and other precious metals. In total, approximately $500,000 in jewelry and precious metals were taken, according to the statement.
After a second safe could not be opened, the trio fled the scene in a rented Nissan Altima that was found the next day, torched in a field in Maine.
The charge of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery carries a sentence of as much as 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Mallard of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit is prosecuting the case.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.