NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Smash-and-grab robbers stormed into a Park Slope jeweler and stole $2 million in merchandise in just 30 seconds, according to surveillance video and the shop’s owner.
“This is nuts,” shop owner Irina Sulay told 1010 WINS on Tuesday, two days after the brazen Sunday evening heist at Facets Fine Handcrafted Jewelry on Seventh Avenue.
Three men staged the heist just before 5 p.m. Surveillance video captured the entire theft, which lasted about 35 seconds.
Video shows the trio rushing in, with one of the thieves using a hammer to smash display cases as a second one loads jewels into a bag and a third waits at the door. After loading up on merchandise, they quickly left the business.
Sulay said she was in “dismay” as the robbery began. “I was not even aware yet of what was about to go down.”
That’s until one of them started smashing the display case.
“When I saw the hammer and I heard him say, ‘This is how you use a hammer,’ and then he started smashing, it became very real,” Sulay said.
She said the crooks knew what they were doing, taking only big-ticket items. In total, she said they stole jewelry valued at about $2 million, but she’s still calculating.
“Those were our like biggest engagement rings,” Sulay said.
The suspects hurried out of the store down the sidewalk and fled on e-bikes, police said. They were still being sought Tuesday.
“I’m just grateful,” Sulay said. “I think that we were all very grateful to just be alive.”
Even though Sulay and her employees are rattled, their resolve isn’t broken.
“The show must go on,” she said. “You know, you pick up the pieces.”
A notice on the door said the store will only be open by appointment “until further notice.”
“We are saddened to inform you that Facets has been the target of an armed robbery,” the sign reads.
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