Man arrested in robbery of Centennial jewelry store, Grand Junction bank

DENVER (KDVR) — A 22-year-old man was arrested in connection to an armed robbery of a jewelry store in Centennial on Monday, officials said Thursday.

Malachi Salus, 22, was arrested on Thursday at a hotel in Colorado Springs by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and Colorado Springs Police SWAT team.

Salus is accused of robbing Rocky Mountain Custom Jewelry and Loan on Monday afternoon, where he walked into the store at about 4 p.m., threatened an employee, stole jewelry and then fled on foot. A manhunt was underway as police searched for him, considering him an armed and dangerous suspect.

Investigators said Thursday that Salus is also linked to a bank robbery in Grand Junction that occurred on Oct. 22, and worked with the Grand Junction Police Department to obtain an arrest warrant.

As of Thursday night, Salus was in custody at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility where he is facing charges of aggravated robbery and theft.

Nick Bostedt, owner of Rocky Mountain Custom Jewelry and Loan, told FOX31's Alliyah Sims that this isn’t the first time his business has been robbed.

“Two months ago we had a break-in in the middle of the night by some gang members that came through,” he said. “This is the first armed robbery we had.”

The man sought by police had come into the store earlier in the day, Bostedt said, and could be seen on security footage.

“He came in as a customer, wandered around the shop, looked at a few pieces of jewelry,” Bostedt told Sims. “I would say he was in there for about 15-20 minutes prior to the robbery."

Bostedt first thought something was wrong when he saw the man on the store's Ring doorbell, which sends a notification to every employee's phone.

“He actually thanked Dylan, saying ‘Thank you for cooperating with me,’ and ‘I’m sorry I have to do this, my family is in trouble right now and I need some help,'” Borstedt told Sims.