Three arrested after gold chains stolen from Rocky Point jewelry store

Three people were taken into custody after Suffolk police said they stole three gold chains from R&S Diamond Exchange on Route 25A and ran from the store area into the woods, turning a quick theft into a highly visible police response in the middle of Rocky Point’s busiest commercial stretch.

Police said the call came in around 2 p.m. Saturday, when lunch-hour traffic, shoppers and workers were still moving along the corridor. The suspects were later identified as 65-year-old Donna Logan of Ronkonkoma, 39-year-old Jemel Edwards of Deer Park and 34-year-old Elizabeth Linder. Police said the three were expected to be arraigned in Central Islip on Sunday on grand larceny charges.

The jewelry store sits at 285 Route 25A, next to Rocky Point Pizza at 279 Route 25A, in a part of the hamlet where storefronts depend on steady foot traffic and an uninterrupted sense of normal business. R&S Diamond Exchange says it has operated in Rocky Point since 1980 and serves customers in Rocky Point and Wading River. The store’s location near wooded areas helped make the response feel bigger than the amount of merchandise taken, as officers moved in and nearby businesses watched the scene unfold.

Workers at the neighboring pizzeria said the incident happened in full public view. Karan Punia, who was working at Rocky Point Pizza that afternoon, said he did not hear any disturbance before police arrived. “It does scare us,” he said.

The theft underscored how quickly a relatively small grab can ripple across Route 25A. A midday incident that involved only three gold chains drew police lights, nervous customers and a fast search near the woods behind the strip, where suspects could disappear before officers arrived. For merchants along the corridor, it was another reminder that visibility cuts both ways: it brings customers in, but it also leaves storefronts exposed when someone decides to strike in broad daylight.

The case now moves into court, where investigators and prosecutors will lay out what happened inside and outside the jewelry store and how the three suspects were connected to the theft. For Rocky Point businesses, the arrest closed the immediate search, but the scene on Route 25A left a sharper question behind about how secure small shops really are when a theft can spill from a storefront into the woods within minutes.