Surveillance video captures brazen smash & grab at Cary mall jewelry store
CARY, NC (WTVD) -- The owner of a Cary Towne Center jewelry store is worried about the future of his shop, his family, income and his employees after thieves broke into the mall and stole at least a half-million dollars in valuables.
The owner of Artisan Jewelers showed ABC11 where the thieves smashed an exterior door to a defunct day spa to gain entry to the mall's concourse.
He said that once inside, they came straight to his store.
What happened next was captured on surveillance video.
You can see one of the men using what appears to be a concrete block or square rock to break out the glass in the front door.
Then they head straight for one particular stretch of glass jewelry cases.
"The most valuable items were in these cases and he went one by one smashing them with the sledgehammer and the rock," Artisan owner Malik Saeed told ABC11.
Saeed says he does have insurance but he's not sure how much of his loss will be covered.
And right now, he's still not sure exactly what his loss is, saying, "Just what I can calculate on top of my head approximately half a million dollars' worth of stuff is gone."
Because he's not a large chain jeweler, he fears what this will mean for the future of his business.
"It's not only me. I have five employees over here. How are we going to get back on track and make sure we take care of everybody the way we normally do? It's a massive loss," Saeed said.
Cary police investigators were going over the surveillance video Monday afternoon as they continued to try to gather clues about the heist.
Saeed thinks the surveillance video is the best bet at generating leads especially since one of the burglars has an odd gait.
"If somebody pays attention to those people, the way their body language, I think it's possible to identify them," he said.
And if suspects are identified, there may be a way to confirm their identity thanks to all the broken glass.
"When they were taking jewelry away everybody was gloved up and they had masks on but somehow they got a cut and we had a few drops of blood over here and some drops of blood outside which, the cops that came for the investigation, they took all that," said Saeed.
Cary police are offering a Crimestoppers reward for information leading to arrests.
Saeed says he's offering one, too, and he made this plea to the public, "Please do the right thing. Help us out. Give us some kind of a lead towards those kind of people so other community members will be safe.
Saeed also told ABC11 he will not reopen for a few days. He'll be cleaning up, taking inventory and working on ways to make sure his store is safe for his customers.
