Surveillance video of jewelry store robbery released

HOUSTON Authorities are looking for two men in connection with the robbery at Ruby Jewelry Store on Woodway Drive on May 27. The surveillance video shows the two men entering the store, drawing guns and forcing the store owner to the back where they tied him up and pistol whipped him.

The suspects are then seen smashing jewelry cases, grabbing an undetermined amount of jewelry and shooting their way out of the store. The owner follows, opening fire with his own gun after they left. Outside surveillance shows a two-tone green SUV leaving the parking lot. A third suspect, identified by police as Christopher Rayneal Hayes, 22, who was a lookout fled on foot. Hayes was later arrested in the area of Chimney Rock and Woodway and charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

The store owner thought he had seen the men before.

"He believed that he had seen them a few days prior; not come in and just pull up and sit out front," said Officer Kim Miller of HPD's Robbery Division. "So it's possible they were casing him."

Police are still looking for both men. One of them is identified as Derek Edward Franklin, 31, who was wearing the black shirt in the surveillance video. The unknown second suspect is described as a black male about 5 feet 10 inches tall, around 150 to 160 pounds with a thin build.

Anyone with information on this case or on the whereabouts of the wanted suspects is urged to contact the HPD Westside Robbery Division at 281-584-4750 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.