A group of thieves stole millions of dollars of merchandise from a family-owned jewelry store in a bold daylight robbery in Seattle that took only 90 seconds, police said.
The Seattle Police Department said it responded to reports of a robbery at Menashe and Sons Jeweler in West Seattle around noon on August 14.
Four masked suspects allegedly used hammers to smash a locked front glass door, then destroyed six display cases, police said. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras inside the store, CBS affiliate KIRO reported.
Police said the suspects were armed with a Taser and bear spray. The weapons were pointed at store employees while the robbery occurred. No injuries were reported.
Bret Gibson, an employee at a gym across the street from the shop, told KIRO that the robbery could be heard inside his workplace.
“You could still hear like a lot of breaking glass and banging around and stuff, so they were in there around noon still robbing the store while everyone was on the phone calling the cops,” Gibson told KIRO.
After the rapid-fire robbery, the suspects fled in a getaway car, police said. A search of the area yielded no results. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact the Seattle Police Department at its Violent Crimes Tip Line.
Josh Menashe, the vice president of the store, told the Associated Press that the store will “be closed for a while.”
“We’re pretty shook up as a staff,” he said.
Menashe told the Associated Press that workers cleaned up the broken glass from the incident and were working on a full inventory of the stolen goods. One glass case held between $700,000 and $800,000 in Rolex luxury watches, while another held an emerald necklace valued at $125,000, the Seattle police said. The case with the necklace also held a platinum diamond. Two other display cases “contained a large amount of gold jewelry.”
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
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