Four men wielding sledgehammers made off with more $1 million in merchandise after smashing their way into a Jersey City jewelry store. The masked suspects shattered a window and glass door before rushing inside Gustavo Oro Jewelry Shop, where they began smashing display cases with mallets. The entire robbery unfolded in a matter of minutes, according to the store’s owner, Gustavo Sanchez.
“They came with a laundry bag and just filled it up,” Sanchez told ABC7. “In just a few minutes, they took everything.” The robbery happened Thursday (Jan. 15) at around 6:48 p.m., about an hour before the store was scheduled to close. Three employees were inside at the time and escaped unharmed through a rear exit, according to Sanchez.
The store’s inventory was nearly wiped out, with losses estimated at $1.5 million.
“They took a lot of jewelry, like 14 carat gold, diamonds, 18 carat gold. Whatever I built in five years, disappeared in five minutes. Like nothing — boom,” Sanchez said.
He said he added reinforced security glass over the counter last year, but it did little to stop the thieves, who quickly smashed through the display cases.
Sanchez told ABC7’s Lauren Glassberg he was devastated by the loss.
“I just sat there crying, thinking how things like this could happen,” he said.
He said he believes the robbery reflects increasingly desperate times.
“People are desperate right now,” Sanchez told the network. “This is happening every day, and we have to stay alert because this happening all the time, every day,” Sanchez said.
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UPS Worker Sentenced for Stealing $174,000 in Jewelry Parcels
The Aberdeen Police Department in Harford, MD, said they had concluded their investigation of a spate of jewelry thefts at a UPS Sorting and Distribution Center, arresting a part-time employee who pleaded guilty to stealing $174,000 worth of jewelry from packages addressed to local jewelers.
According to Fox News, the theft scheme happened over a span of six months starting in December 2024 with 20 packages going missing. Police said Kazane Deravin, 40, pawned the items, including a $69,000 custom cut diamond engagement ring that Saxons Diamond Centers had sent off to be repaired. The suspect also gifted some of the stolen jewelry to his mother.
On Dec. 11, 2025, Deravin was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was suspended to allow him to get employment for restitution to the victims.
K9 Tracks Down Jewelry Thief
A 24-year-old man was arrested last Tuesday (Jan. 14) after a reported robbery at a downtown Duluth, MN, jewelry store, according to Northern News Now.
Police said officers were called around 9:50 a.m. to Security Jewelers at 307 W. Superior Street.
Employees reported that a man, who police later identified as Jaquay Hassell, took a watch and claimed he had a firearm. He then ran out of the store.
Police said their K9 Fitz tracked Hassell to the fourth floor of a nearby parking ramp, where he was taken into custody. No firearm was found.
Armed Robbers Target Jewelry Store in Chicago’s Little India
A jewelry store in Chicago’s Little India district was robbed at gunpoint Sunday evening, according to CBS News (CBS Chicago).
Police said at 7:23 p.m., six people armed with a gun forced their way into a jewelry store in the 2600 block of West Devon Avenue and took jewelry from display cases.
The robbers fled the scene in two sport-utility vehicles — one white, the other black, police said.
No injuries were reported.
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Ontario Jewelry Store Robbed for Second Time in 3 Months
Canadian police are searching for at least four suspects after a jewelry store robbery Thursday (Jan. 15) at Pickering City Centre in Durham, ON.
According to news reports, four masked suspects entered Peoples Jewellers at Pickering City Centre at 5:35 p.m. and began smashing display cases. The suspects stole a quantity of jewelry before fleeing the mall in a vehicle. No employees suffered any physical injuries.
The store was robbed in similar fashion in October when four masked suspects – some as young as 14 – smashed cases and fled.
