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Jewelry Salesman shoots ......
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Author:  Dee [ Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Jewelry Salesman shoots ......

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jul/08/police-scene-shooting-east-memphis-office-building/

Quote:
Jewelry salesman shoots 2 amid East Memphis robbery

Fires on pair attempting to steal his wares; 2 others flee

By Jody Callahan (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Joel Hobson heard three loud pops right outside his second-floor office. One floor below him, Nancy Dumas heard the same thing.

Those pops were gunfire, a signal that an attempted jewelry heist in East Memphis had gone awry. Four men, all described as speaking Spanish, had pounced on a traveling jewelry salesman, trying to take his merchandise.

Instead, 62-year-old Stephen Fleischman pulled his weapon and shot two of the suspects, leaving them bleeding in the parking lot as the others fled, Memphis police said. At least two of the suspects were armed.

On Wednesday afternoon, officers pored over the scene. Bloody clothes were bunched on the hot pavement where the men fell. They were taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in critical condition.

“We heard a POP! POP! POP! Then there was a big commotion outside,” said Hobson, head of Hobson Realty and the owner of the building at 5384 Poplar. “When I got out there, (Fleischman) had his gun and one guy was there (on the ground) and the other was (over) there. He said, ‘Stay right there.’”

Looking out the window of her State Farm office, Dumas saw one of the wounded suspects, fallen between two parked cars.

“I saw the man with the gun in his hand,” she said. “It was scary, very scary. We shut our door and locked it, afraid we could be hostages or something.”

Fleischman has a legal gun permit from Alabama, Memphis Police Col. Jeff Clark said. He was also driving a car with Alabama license plates and telephone records indicate he lives in Mobile.

Traveling jewelry salesmen typically visit numerous jewelry stores, perhaps in multiple cities. They show their wares, trying to make a sale, then move on to the next store.

There are at least seven jewelers in the Hobson building, sharing two offices. Unlike a jewelry store in a mall, though, these jewelers sell by appointment only, often to a more upscale clientele.

It’s unlikely Fleischman had anything worth stealing, said a jeweler who met with the salesman a few minutes before the shooting.

“Most of them just have fakes. They have a (replica) of what the piece would look like,” said Claire Ellers, a jeweler with an office in the building. “He may have had a few pieces on him, but not much. It really wasn’t worth their time. They thought they had a big deal.”

The Memphis incident comes a year after masked gunmen robbed diamond couriers in Arkansas as part of a crime wave across the South. FBI officials suspected those thefts could be part of what they call “South American Theft Groups.”

FBI officials said the groups of illegal immigrants stake out traveling salesmen and jewelry shows, sometimes traveling across the country.

While this remains a Memphis Police case, the FBI is interested, said C.M. Sturgis, spokesman for the Memphis office.

“What we would be interested in would be information that’s developed out of their investigation that could help us solve other robberies around the country,” he said.

Sturgis was intrigued when he heard that the suspects reportedly spoke Spanish.

“(This) could have links to Central or South America and could be connected to a robbery team,” he said. “It’s too early to tell now.”

— Jody Callahan: 529-6531

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Author:  Blued Steel [ Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jewelry Salesman shoots ......

Dee wrote:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jul/08/police-scene-shooting-east-memphis-office-building/

Quote:
Jewelry salesman shoots 2 amid East Memphis robbery

Fires on pair attempting to steal his wares; 2 others flee

By Jody Callahan (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Joel Hobson heard three loud pops right outside his second-floor office. One floor below him, Nancy Dumas heard the same thing.

Those pops were gunfire, a signal that an attempted jewelry heist in East Memphis had gone awry. Four men, all described as speaking Spanish, had pounced on a traveling jewelry salesman, trying to take his merchandise.

Instead, 62-year-old Stephen Fleischman pulled his weapon and shot two of the suspects, leaving them bleeding in the parking lot as the others fled, Memphis police said. At least two of the suspects were armed.

On Wednesday afternoon, officers pored over the scene. Bloody clothes were bunched on the hot pavement where the men fell. They were taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in critical condition.

“We heard a POP! POP! POP! Then there was a big commotion outside,” said Hobson, head of Hobson Realty and the owner of the building at 5384 Poplar. “When I got out there, (Fleischman) had his gun and one guy was there (on the ground) and the other was (over) there. He said, ‘Stay right there.’”

Looking out the window of her State Farm office, Dumas saw one of the wounded suspects, fallen between two parked cars.

“I saw the man with the gun in his hand,” she said. “It was scary, very scary. We shut our door and locked it, afraid we could be hostages or something.”

Fleischman has a legal gun permit from Alabama, Memphis Police Col. Jeff Clark said. He was also driving a car with Alabama license plates and telephone records indicate he lives in Mobile.

Traveling jewelry salesmen typically visit numerous jewelry stores, perhaps in multiple cities. They show their wares, trying to make a sale, then move on to the next store.

There are at least seven jewelers in the Hobson building, sharing two offices. Unlike a jewelry store in a mall, though, these jewelers sell by appointment only, often to a more upscale clientele.

It’s unlikely Fleischman had anything worth stealing, said a jeweler who met with the salesman a few minutes before the shooting.

Most of them just have fakes. They have a (replica) of what the piece would look like,” said Claire Ellers, a jeweler with an office in the building. “He may have had a few pieces on him, but not much. It really wasn’t worth their time. They thought they had a big deal.

The Memphis incident comes a year after masked gunmen robbed diamond couriers in Arkansas as part of a crime wave across the South. FBI officials suspected those thefts could be part of what they call “South American Theft Groups.”

FBI officials said the groups of illegal immigrants stake out traveling salesmen and jewelry shows, sometimes traveling across the country.

While this remains a Memphis Police case, the FBI is interested, said C.M. Sturgis, spokesman for the Memphis office.

“What we would be interested in would be information that’s developed out of their investigation that could help us solve other robberies around the country,” he said.

Sturgis was intrigued when he heard that the suspects reportedly spoke Spanish.

“(This) could have links to Central or South America and could be connected to a robbery team,” he said. “It’s too early to tell now.”

— Jody Callahan: 529-6531

The Associated Press contributed to this story.



He would have let them take the "fakes" if thats all they were....Jewelry reps and couriers are high value targets for robberies, and often they are former LEO or other backgrounds (often former Israeli military or the like) who travel in the insular world.

Author:  Dee [ Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jewelry Salesman shoots ......

Fakes or not, anyone with an ounce of gumption is likely to resist, especially if they have the means to defend themselves.
I personally don't subscribe to the "just let them take it" philosophy. If as you say they are ex-LEO's or ex-servicemen, I would think that they are more likely to resist a robbery.

Author:  Macx [ Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jewelry Salesman shoots ......

Quote:
Those pops were gunfire, a signal that an attempted jewelry heist in East Memphis had gone awry. Four men, all described as speaking Spanish, had pounced on a traveling jewelry salesman, trying to take his merchandise.


Quote:
At least two of the suspects were armed.



Um, yeah. . . . . . the media will spin it as if he was trying to protect property, and "clearly only a savage would shoot someone over property" . .. because that is the agenda. Wait a minute. . . . two suspects got shot and left behind by the buddies & they make the statement "At least two of the suspects were armed." Wanna bet they know "At least two of the suspects were armed." because they were the ones left behind? Four armed against one armed is still a pretty vast dispairity of force . . .

It just makes me sick that they play this off as being about defending the jewelry, fake jewelry or whatever allows them to make believe this wasn't an armed citizen applying successful self defense in a legal and responsible manner. What if a permit carrier got mistaken for a jewelry salesman, attacked, and the same outcome? Would the media condemn them for not materializing jewelry out of thin air? :bang: Getting shot and or arrested/dead is one of those risks that robbers accept by taking that job. Like a butcher that shaves a finger or a soccer player that gets kicked in the jewels, certain occupations just have specific risks that are attached & when you accept the job, you relinquish your right to bitch when your number comes up on that/those risks. I really wish the media would pick up that angle. "rob people and you may get your card punched & if that happens, expect no pity" instead of this "poor latino robbers brutally shot while threatening someones life over fake jewelry . . . if we'd just have given them free income this would have never happened . . .obviously it is society's fault for not being more understanding and generous with handouts". :evil:

Author:  White Horseradish [ Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jewelry Salesman shoots ......

Hm. Seems Mr. Fleischman has earned himself the right to sing the blues, seein' how he shot a man in Memphis... :twisted:

When I ran errands with gold and diamonds in my pockets I was followed once. That was unpleasant, but I got out of it by managing to lose them in the maze that is 47th Street.

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