Cops Search for Bixler's Armed Robbers

Update 2:30 p.m. Dec. 29

South Whitehall Police are looking for three men wanted in connection with the armed robbery at Bixler's Jewelers at 7 last night, Dec. 28.

Police report an employee was forced by several armed intruders to open a safe and remove several Rolex watches and other jewelry. The value of what was taken is still being determined.

During the course of the robbery, an employee's vehicle was taken and is still missing. The vehicle is a green Toyota Camry, PA Registration HGV-5710.

The fugutives are described as:

Male #1 - approximately 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing about 200 lbs. wearing glass, dark clothing, light colored face covering and a knit cap with a stripe.

Male #2 - wearing dark colored jacket with hood, dark clothing and light colored face covering.

Male #3 - wearing gray hooded sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call 610-398-0337. 

The robbery is thought to be related to a home invasion reported last night on Kenny Drive in Bethlehem, but police have not yet confirmed this information.

WMFZ69 News spoke this morning with the employee who was forced to open the safe and his wife. 

"They said the suspects broke into their Kenny Drive home in Bethlehem through a back door on Friday, and held a gun to the man's head and tied him up with duct tape. The victim said they waited until his wife got home and did the same to her. The victims said all the men were masked."

WFMZ's report goes on to say the employee told them two of the masked men stole his wife's car, drove him to the jewelry store and made him open the safe. The victim said the men stole a lot from the store, and said the thieves then left him inside the store tied up.

Update at 9:40 p.m, Friday, Dec. 28:

South Whitehall Police Cpl. Kevin Edelheiser said there was no new information he could pass on but did confirm that no one was hurt tonight. An official statement is expected soon.

According to an article on Lehigh Valley Live, a gunman abducted a Bixler's Jewelers employee from his Bethlehem home, took him to the store in South Whitehall and robbed it.

The article reports an employee and his wife were tied up with duct tape in their home, according to Lehigh County radio reports. Bethlehem police did confirm a home invasion this evening, but did not connect it to the robbery.

Lehigh Valley Live reports Bethlehem police are at a home in the 1900 block of Kenny Drive in Bethlehem.

WFMZ is reporting the home invasion as well but did not confirm it was related to the robbery. WFMZ said reports indicate the store was robbed and the man was left there as the suspects fled in a 2007 green Toyota Camry with the license plate HGV-5710.

Lehigh Valley Live reports: The man was driven to the store by a black man with a bandana and a handgun, radio reports say. The woman remained bound in the pair's home with one of the intruders -- described as tall -- who had a police scanner, according the emergency reports.

Various media report Lehigh County Dispatch did confirm the South Whitehall Township store was victim to an armed robbery tonight. South Whitehall Police confirm no one was hurt.

A woman who answered the phone at the store would only say the store was closed. Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.

, by two men wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts. They smashed several display cases and grabbed several pieces of jewelry, then fled in a tan colored SUV, possibly a Chevrolet Tahoe. One of the men displayed a handgun as the SUV left the parking lot, police said.

Bixler's moved to the Shops at 3900 on Aug. 25, 2011, five days after the store closed its location on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township and nearly five years after closing a location at the Village West Shopping Center in South Whitehall.