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ATTLEBORO - A spy in the sky helped land three Attleboro residents in jail in connection with a $140,000 robbery of a Vermont jewelry store.

The suspects were nabbed Wednesday on Elm Street in North Attleboro with the assistance of a global positioning system police had secretly planted on their car in an unrelated criminal investigation.

The device tracked the vehicle, a 1993 Ford Taurus, to Saint Johnsbury, Vt., where three robbers held up Dana Jewelry, escaping with cash, rings and other jewelry valued at $140,000, investigators said.

The vehicle was then tracked back to North Attleboro, where the suspects were arrested about 4:30 p.m. in front of the Elm Street fire station - about four hours after the Vermont robbery.

Arrested were Nicholas Blagojevic, 27; his girlfriend, Allison Martino, 21; and Wesley Rose, 26, all of 121 County St., Attleboro. They were apprehended at gunpoint without incident by North Attleboro officers Denis Donovan, Richard McQuade and Craig Jones. They were charged in connection with the 12:40 p.m. robbery of the jewelry store, where the manager, Johnna Phelps, 39, was restrained with plastic handcuffs and locked in a back room while while robbers cleaned out jewelry cases and rifled the cash register.

The suspects were arraigned Thursday in Attleboro District Court on fugitive charges. All but one of them waived extradition to return at a later date to authorities in Vermont.

Blagojevic, who faces armed robbery charges in Vermont, refused to waive extradition and was ordered held in jail without bail.

Rose faces assault and battery charges in Vermont. He was ordered held in jail without bail after waiving extradition.

Martino, who police allege posed as a customer in the store, faces accessory charges. She was ordered held without bail after waiving extradition.

The suspects also are under investigation for several housebreaks on Cape Cod and in North Attleboro, Attleboro and Norton, according to police.

The investigation into the house burglaries is what prompted police to place the GPS device on the suspects' car.

Harwich police working with a police task force on the Cape had earlier obtained court permission to place the device on the vehicle to keep it under surveillance, according to court records and police.

The vehicle was being tracked on the GPS system to St. Johnsbury where the vehicle stopped before returning to the area. Police contacted Vermont authorities and learned about the robbery, according to police.

North Attleboro police stopped the vehicle after area police received a police warning via radio. A small bag of rings and other jewelry fell out of Martino's pants while she was being brought into the police station, according to police.

Police said evidence at the scene and statements made by one of the suspects directly link the trio to the robbery.

The car had Vermont license plates and Blagojevic and Martino at one time lived in an apartment complex in Saint Johnsbury, according to police.

Loren Phelps, who owns the business, told police the woman came in first and pretended to be an interested shopper, then the two men followed. One of the men wore a ski mask and the other had dark sunglasses.

Johnna Phelps told the Burlington Free Press she was able to free herself from the plastic handcuffs, untie the rope used to bind the back door, then press a silent alarm button.

The alarm, installed only a month ago, rang at the St. Johnsbury police station at 12:41 p.m. and brought an immediate response from local police.

In the meantime, no charges were immediately filed in connection with any of the housebreaks in Massachusetts.

"Several agencies are interviewing them," North Attleboro Detective Lt. David Dawes said of the suspects. "It's an active investigation."

North Attleboro police seized the Ford Taurus and obtained a search warrant for the vehicle, he said.

Norton police obtained a search warrant for a first floor apartment where the suspects were living, and searched it Thursday with Attleboro police for possible evidence connected to housebreaks, Attleboro Detective Sgt. Arthur Brillon said.

Brillon searched the apartment with Attleboro detectives Jeffrey Peavey and Alex Aponte and Norton detectives Sgt. Brian Clark, Stephen Desfosses and Todd Bramwell.