Video shows a group of suspects with hammers running from a Texas jewelry store after what one expert called a “mob-style” robbery.
Officers responded to a report of an active robbery at Marc Robinson Jewelers at the Round Rock Premium Outlets on Tuesday around 12:47 p.m., Fox News reported, citing police.
Store employees told police that a group burst into the store with hammers and shattered display cases before snatching jewelry. Employees also told police that the alleged thieves pepper-sprayed an employee and a bystander before making off with a “large amount of stolen jewelry.”
Video obtained by local news outlets shows the suspects fleeing the store after the heist wearing masks and gloves.
International Crime Free Association Executive Director Timothy Zehring told FOX 7 said the suspects engaged in “mob-style execution.”
“The modus operandi that the FBI and the Jewelers Security Alliance talk about, first, is the mob-style execution of these crimes. You’re generally looking at between 10 and 30 masked suspects that charge into the store, sometimes with weapons, but there are massive losses in under 60 seconds,” he said. “The price of gold has skyrocketed lately and so these crimes are very lucrative.”
He said stores could implement a layered security approach to help disincentivize these kinds of crimes.
“Bollards are a great way to prevent people from smashing in. The next thing is shatter-resistant glass and film that you can put over glass even if you don’t replace the glass. Think of window tinting on your car. If they put this film on the glass, even if the glass breaks, it holds intact so they can’t get in,” he said.
Police said they found the blue Hyundai Sonata that the suspects allegedly fled the scene in at a nearby apartment building, according to the report.
Police said the vehicle had been reported stolen out of the Humble, Texas area. Law enforcement recovered the vehicle and brought it in for processing as they continued to investigate the case.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Dwayne Riley at (512) 218-6619.
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