Two men shot through the front door of Best Buy and then robbed the store early yesterday in St. Matthews, briefly holding employees and another man hostage, according to police.
Monty Jacobs, 43, and Jerry Edwards, 36, both of Louisville, were arrested after a chase and charged with robbery, kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon. They were lodged in Louisville Metro Corrections.
A little before 2 a.m. yesterday, two men went to the Best Buy at 5029 Shelbyville Road armed with a shotgun and shot the window in a front door, St. Matthews police Sgt. William Fitzgerald said.
The robbers forced one man who had been waiting outside to go inside the store with them. They then robbed the store, which was closed, Fitzgerald said.
An employee triggered a silent alarm and police arrived just as the robbers were leaving, Fitzgerald said. The men went back inside, forcing an employee into the back of the Best Buy to open a rear door, he said.
The robbers ran out the back of the store and into a wooded area near the Watterson Expressway, where one of them hid.
Edwards was found and arrested after Louisville Metro Police arrived with a dog, Fitzgerald said.
The second man made it to a getaway car parked in the emergency lane on the Watterson, authorities said. Police soon pulled the car over and arrested Jacobs and the driver, April Sharp. A handgun and an undisclosed amount of cash were found in the vehicle, Fitzgerald said.
Sharp, 24, of Louisville, was charged with robbery and fleeing and evading police.
Fitzgerald said the robbery could have easily turned into a hostage negotiation.
"It could have been bad," he said. "Ö But the good guys won."