Two men who cut a hole through the wall of a neighboring store’s bathroom to break into a jewelry store in Cape Coral, FL, made off with more than $500,000 in inventory and two firearms after restraining and assaulting the store manager on the morning of Jan. 6.
The Cape Coral Police Department has yet to identify the pair, but a man accused of being the getaway driver, Ivel Sanchez Rivera, was arrested, according to the New York Times.
Police were initially alerted to the crime at Tio Jewelers by the store owner’s wife, who had remote access to the store’s surveillance system and noticed two men moving through the property while the manager lay on the ground.
Arriving at the scene, police found the manager inside the shop with his arms restrained by zip ties. He told police that as well as grabbing most of the jewery from the store, they took his $5,500 Breitling watch and had struck him with a pistol.
Investigators determined that shortly after midnight, the two men had pried open the door to the vacated site next to the jewelry store, and “cut a large hole” through the bathroom, which neighboured Tio Jewelers. The men entered at around 4:50 am and waited for the the manager, who opened the store at around 9:45 a.m. They then confronted and assaulted him.
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Stockton Mall Jeweler Hit by Smash and Grab Gang
A Stockton, CA, jewelry store is recovering after a violent smash-and-grab robbery that unfolded in about a minute and was caught on camera at Weberstown Mall.
Video footage shows four men armed with sledgehammers rushing into the store just after 5 p.m. Friday. Witnesses said the group moved quickly, smashing glass display cases and yelling at each other to hurry before fleeing.
“It was quick, it was in and out, man. The craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” one witness told ABC news. “As soon as I seen the guy with the sledgehammer, I was like, ‘Oh my God.”
Law enforcement officers arrived at the mall less than a minute after the call but missed the suspects by seconds, according to police radio traffic monitored by ABC10. Investigators have not said how much was taken.
Man sought after pulling gun in row at Philidelphia jewelry shop (Video)
Police have released surveillance footage of a man who alledgedly produced a handgun and aimed it a worker’s head during an argument over a piece of merchandise at a jewelry shop in South Philly on Dec. 11.
