Masked thieves spend hours cutting into Orlando jeweler’s safe
Masked thieves spend hours cutting into Orlando jeweler?s safe
Masked thieves broke into an Orlando jewelry store late Sunday, spending nearly five hours inside before making off with a safe full of merchandise and customer-owned pieces, the store?s owner said.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Masked thieves broke into an Orlando jewelry store late Sunday, spending nearly five hours inside before making off with a safe full of merchandise and customer-owned pieces, the store’s owner said.
What we know:
Masked thieves broke into Adams Jewelry, located in a strip mall on Corrine Drive, around 10 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7.
Surveillance video from a neighboring business shows an SUV arriving at the back entrance just after 10:15 p.m. Three masked suspects entered while a driver waited outside. The suspects remained inside until nearly 3 a.m. Monday, spending hours cutting into a safe reinforced with 8 inches of concrete.
The group escaped with all the safe’s contents, including both store merchandise and customer-owned jewelry.
Store owner David Adams said the burglars disabled his cameras by spray-painting lenses, cutting wires and removing overhead units. However, nearby Acme Cleaners’ cameras captured clear footage of the suspects and provided it to the Orlando Police Department.
What we don't know:
The value of the stolen items has not yet been determined. Adams is still taking inventory and believes customer contact information was also taken.
The Orlando Police Department has not released details about potential leads or whether the suspects’ identities are known. The surveillance video remains in the hands of investigators and has not been made public.
What they're saying:
The safe is reinforced with eight inches of concrete – the thieves made it through and stole everything inside, said Adams.
"I’ve been broken into several times in the 50 years we’ve been in business – but never anything like this," Adams said. "Seems to me like they knew exactly what they were doing. Every time I look at this it makes me sick to my stomach."
Adams Jewelry is located inside a strip mall on Corrine Drive. Gail Walker, who works at Interior Inspirations FL, was shocked to hear the news.
"It’s unusual here, we don’t usually have that type of negative activity. This is an upscale, happy area," Walker said. "It doesn’t make me concerned… because it does sound targeted."
Adams said the thieves disabled all of his cameras. According to Adams, the cameras did catch the suspects entering the store.
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"This camera, that camera," Adams said pointing around the store. "They spray-painted as well as cutting all the wires. They [also] removed the cameras that were overhead."
Sara Costa and Celina Straker work at Acme Cleaners. They said OPD got copies of the business’ security footage.
"It was the back two cameras," Costa said.
"One going the out way and one going the in way," Straker said. "The police officers, they said that we got great footage for them."
"We’re just happy that our cameras were able to get as much as they could capture," said Costa.
Dig deeper:
The business owner did not agree to release the footage, but FOX 35’s Hannah Mackenzie did get to watch it.
The video shows an SUV pull up to the back entrance of the jewelry store just before 10:15 p.m. Three people with ski mask-type face coverings got out. The driver remained inside.
The three suspects enter the store. The driver left and returned to the site several times. Just before 3 a.m. the driver pulled up again and all four suspects could be seen piling merchandise into the back of the SUV.
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What you can do:
According to Adams, the suspects knew exactly what they were doing."My hope is that these people are brought to justice, that we can recover as much merchandise as possible," Adams said.
Adams said the Orlando Police Department is investigating. OPD did not respond to our request for additional information.
Adams has set up a tip line. He is asking anyone with information about the burglary to come forward. He is also asking businesses in the area to check security footage for unusual activity from 10 p.m. on Sunday, September 7 to 3 a.m. Monday, September 8.
Email: tipline@lauthinvestigations.com
Call: (833) 988-3939
You can also reach out to the Orlando Police Department.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by David Adams, owner of Adams Jewelry of Orlando, Gail Walker, Sara Costa and Celina Straker, who work at nearby businesses.