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9 People Distract Jeweler, Clean Out Safe
The jewelry theft happened last month at a store in Aurora, Colorado.
Aurora, Colo.—Police in Colorado are looking for nine people who distracted a local jewelry store owner while one member of their crew crawled to and cleaned out the safe.
According to an alert issued Friday by the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, the group—a mix of women and men—entered an Aurora, Colorado, jewelry store together.
They pretended to be legitimate customers while, as footage from the store’s security camera aired by the Fox News affiliate in Denver shows, one woman crouches and waddles her way through an apparently unlocked gate to where the safe is.
She then proceeds to remove jewelry from the safe and place it in a bag, the tape shows.
WATCH: Fox 31 Denver Airs Security Footage from Jewelry Distraction Theft
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Fox 31 Denver identified the store as Sai Jewelers & Repair and reported that $35,000 in jewelry was stolen.
Eight of the nine suspects are pictured below in security camera stills cleaned up by local police.
The JSA said the suspects are members of the nomadic ethnic group Roma, also known as Gypsies.
Members of the group have been linked to multiple crimes across the country in recent years, including a similar jewelry theft in Glendale, California, in June 2017.
The JSA said retailers should be on high alert for potential jewelry theft when larger groups of people—typically three or more—enter the store together and appear intent on distracting the store owner or employees.
The alliance also recommends keeping the store’s safe, or safes, locked during the day and keeping any doors or gates to the back room locked as well.
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