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In the era of decadence cybercriminality, the jewelry theft that took place Sunday in the diamond district of Manhattan was decidedly old school.
Around noon that day, three apparently disguised armed men entered a jewelery shop, hogtied employees and fled with high-end valuables in a dramatic scene filmed by a surveillance video, officials said.
On Monday, the police were still looking for thieves to hold the store, Avianne & Co., a major jewelry counter known for selling glittering and heavy diamonds celebrity clientele, including musicians Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber.
The store, located in the diamond district of 47th Street West, between the fifth and sixth avenues, remained closed Monday afternoon.
Officials did not specify the number of stolen coins or their value. Avianne owners and managers did not respond to requests for comment.
However, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said that men had stolen many luxury watches and other jewelry.
The three robbers – one wearing a suit and a fedora, the other wearing a black hat and the third wearing a red and black hat fabric on his head – posed as customers when they entered the store Sunday, police said.
None of the men were wearing masks, but two of them were apparently wearing wigs with braids, said the law enforcement official.
The man from the fedora told store employees that he was looking for a ring, said the manager. He and two workers then went to the back of the shop to complete the purchase. Shortly after, at least one man in the showroom took out a gun.
At about the same time, the fedora man pulled out a silver handgun in the back shop, according to the surveillance images taken inside the store.
The other two thieves then broke into the back room, forced the workers to the floor and tied their legs with tape and ties, the police said.
Surveillance pictures show two of the men who put items in a gym bag as employees lie on the ground. An open briefcase with luxury watches is shown sitting on a desk in the room, which contains at least 10 bottles of sparkling wine and alcohol.
(Also noted in the background is a display of security cameras recording the scene, which would be the images that the police then released.)
The thieves fled and surveillance cameras of the police department in the captured street trying to hail a yellow taxi. None of the employees were seriously injured, the police said.
Burglaries in jewelery shops persist in the United States, although their numbers appear to have declined in recent years, according to John J. Kennedy, president of the Jewelers' Security Alliance, a professional association that tracks jewelery related crimes for retailers and the police.
In the first six months of 2019, the alliance followed 59 robberies at jewelry retailers in the United States, down from 105 in the same period last year, although M Kennedy noted that the statistics were preliminary.
Firearm robberies, like that of Avianne, tend to be less common than smash-and-grab robberies, in which thieves break windows with hangers and take what they do. They can run before they escape, said Kennedy.
"The laws if you are caught and sentenced are much harsher if you have a gun," Kennedy said.
He also said the robberies were "relatively infrequent" on West 47th Street, despite the high concentration of jewelers in the area.
"Security is good on 47th Street," Kennedy said. "There are very good police patrols, it also has a private security element and many jewelers are very sophisticated in terms of security."
"It felt like they were watching the place," said 23-year-old Jester Sanchez.
We did not know why Avianne was targeted. But unlike some nearby stores, Avianne was open on Sundays, which tends to be a less busy day, what Mr. Kennedy said, is that jewelery thieves tend to favor.
AVianne's address to a celebrity clientele. He sold pieces to rappers like 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne and Mrs. Minaj, cleaned a gold chain for Mr. Bieber and designed a 15-carat personalized engagement ring for singer Ciara. (The engagement did not last, but the diamonds are eternal.)
Nevertheless, even with its famous customers and a significant number of Instagram, the Avianne store in Manhattan remains a consumer showroom, which attracts many buyers.
For Avianne and similar stores, the risk that a potential customer becomes a jewel thief is part of the cost of doing business, Kennedy said.
"You are a retailer," he says. "So, you will leave these people in your store."
Ali Watkins and Aaron Randle contributed to the reports.
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