Armenian Men Behind Armed Robbery Incident in Siberia

The criminal case hearings of the July 2009 jewelry store robbery in Barnaul (in Russia’s Siberia) began last week. The defendants in the case were two unemployed ethnic Armenian residents of Russia’s Kuznetsk Basin (Kuzbass), reports Altapress.

The defendants were arrested 5 months after the crime. One of the accused was hiding in the Russian city of Kiselyovsk in the province of Kemerovo , while the other was in Sochi. 

One of the accused left his passport in a taxi cab, which is how the police were able to track him. For a long time, however, the taxi driver — fearing for his life — did not contact law enforcement officials.

Apparently, there were 3 individuals who robbed the jewelry store in July 2009; however, police are unable to identify the third suspect. 

Note that, however, the robbery was not fruitful: the men broke into the store, smashing the shop windows, resulting in a round of shooting with the security guard. They left the scene without stealing anything.