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Two parolees charged in Flushing jewel heist

By Chris Fuchs

After a brief chase, the police arrested George Lynn, 42, and Taric Malik, 37, both of Brooklyn, and charged each with second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree burglary, among other charges, said Betsy Herzog, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office.

The men were arraigned Friday in Queens Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges, the district attorney's office said. Both men were being held without bail until their next court date, Dec. 14.

Shortly after 3 a.m. a squad car from the 109th Precinct in Flushing received a radio call for an alarm ringing at Bob's Golden Palace, a jewelry store at 133-40 Whitestone Expressway, said Inspector James Waters, the commander of the 109th Precinct.

When the police arrived, the inspector said, they were met by a man who said he saw three men jump off the roof of the store. The man told the police that the assailants headed down 32nd Avenue, the inspector said.

The police officers took down a description of the men and broadcast it over their radio, the inspector said. Soon after, the police caught two of the three suspects, the inspector said. The police also recovered a duffel bag filled with earrings, watches, bracelets and other jewelry, the inspector said, from a nearby dumpster, totaling over $100,000 in cash value.

Waters said the police also recovered an ax at the scene, which they believe was used to chop a hole in the roof, the suspects' point of entry. The inspector did not know how the assailants were able to get atop the roof.

The police said both men had been on parole since August for another burglary they had committed. Each, the police added, has a history of burglarizing stores.

“They didn't just pick this place out of random,” the inspector said.