NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A group of men have stolen about $250,000 in gold jewelry and other valuables in a citywide theft spree stretching back to February, the NYPD said Thursday.
Police have connected the crew to at least 18 larcenies across 11 precincts in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. They’ve netted at least $247,380 in loot over about two months.
The most recent thefts were this week—a pair of sledgehammer smash-and-grabs, including one at a jewelry store in the Bronx Sunday afternoon that was captured on surveillance video.
The video shows a man with a sledgehammer smashing the front window of the jeweler at White Plains Road and Lydig Avenue in Pelham Parkway just before 4 p.m.
Someone in the shop tried to close the front security gate on the thief, but he and an accomplice with a bag managed to steal 10 gold chains and five gold pendants worth $20,000.
Police said the pair fled in a black BMW 5 Series sedan.
The thieves made their biggest haul the following day in Brooklyn, when six of them used sledgehammers and a pickaxe to break the front window of jewelry store at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in Sunset Park around 3:15 p.m.
The six thieves stole gold jewelry valued at $187,380 before fleeing in a black BMW 5 Series sedan and a black Honda Accord.
The earliest known incident was in the Bronx on Feb. 25, when police said two men stole merchandise from a store at E. 138th Street and Third Avenue in Mott Haven, pushing past an employee who tried to stop them and fleeing in a blue Hyundai parked out front.
Weeks later, on March 29, they targeted a jewelry store at 64th Drive and Booth Street in Rego Park, Queens. Police said one of the men asked an employee if he could hold an expensive piece of jewelry and then fled the shop with it when the worker buzzed in his accomplice at the front door. The suspects fled in a black BMW parked out front.
Police believe some of the suspects are in their 20s or early 30s. They were all seen wearing dark clothing.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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