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Lakewood police search for leads after jewelry store robbery
The owners of Crown Jewelry in Lakewood are tallying up the cost to recover after a smash and grab takeover robbery.
LAKEWOOD, Wash. - Lakewood police are searching for four masked robbers after a smash-and-grab heist at Crown Jewelry on Sunday afternoon.
Masked robbers target Lakewood jewelry store
Around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, store employees buzzed a woman into the jewelry shop on Steilacoom Boulevard. Once the door unlocked, she held it open for three men wearing white jumpsuits and masks who rushed inside, according to police.
One of the men carried a rifle, and two others carried axes. The thieves used the axes to smash glass display cases, cleaned out the jewelry, and left within a minute.
What they're saying:
"The three that came in, one of them was armed with a rifle," Sgt. Charles Porche of the Lakewood Police Department said. "The other two were armed with axes and they broke a couple of display cases and took a bunch of jewelry."
Because of the door's automatic locking system, the robbers became locked inside the shop. They then smashed a window next to the door to escape and got in a getaway vehicle.
"They were locked into the store and so they broke a window right next to the front door to get back out," Porche added. "That noise is what we believe everybody thought was shots fired because there were no shots that got fired. It was the window."
Dispatchers received multiple 911 calls from neighbors and nearby business employees who thought they heard gunfire, but police confirmed no shots were fired and the noise came from the glass being broken.
What's next:
The store has surveillance video showing the robbery and the getaway vehicle, but police asked the owners not to release the footage as they pursue leads.
"If somebody shows up somewhere with a large amount of jewelry, loose items that they are trying to get rid of, all of those things can help us," Porche said.
What we don't know:
Authorities have not released the total monetary value of the jewelry stolen during the robbery.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Lakewood Police Department and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.