Southlake Police Seek Dancing Jewel Thief

SOUTHLAKE (KRLD) - Police in Southlake are looking for a man suspected of stealing a diamond worth more than $23,000. They hope someone recognizes him from these surveillance photos.

HELP US IDENTIFY THIS JARED'S JEWEL JANKER AND YES WE ADDED THE MUSIC TO THE CLIP THREAD!We had a mini-heist over at Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry on October 18th, and we need your eyes, fair citizens!1/ pic.twitter.com/fC2NeIGvj7

The Southlake DPS was first alerted to the suspect in August, when he visited Southlake Jewelers. "He was very outgoing. He told everyone he was a rapper from Lubbock," said Officer Brad Uptmore.

Store employees became suspicious, Uptmore said, when the man began asking a series of questions related to store security. "Like...'at what point do you call the police when somebody makes a big purchase?' or 'if I buy a big diamond today are you going to call the police and notify them?' That sort of thing."

*Click on the twitter thread to see all the tweets

BUT FIRST! Back on August 21st, we received a suspicious person call at Southlake Jewelers at 2140 East Southlake Boulevard. A black male, about 6'00" who was skinny and athletic and 20-25 years old walked into the store.2/ pic.twitter.com/LXL7D3xLOB

Officers questioned the man but did not arrest him because they determined that no crime had occurred. The officers' dashboard cameras did record several high-quality images of the suspect. Police say he returned to the store on Friday, October 18th but did not make a purchase. Employees there notified other stores in the area about the suspect.

That same day, police say the man visited a different jewelry store on Southlake Boulevard. He told store employees he had $6,000 and asked to see a selection of the store's merchandise. "They brought him to where some of the larger diamonds were kept. He was acting clumsy...and one of the diamonds got knocked to the floor," Officer Uptmore said. "He acted like he was helping to look for it...but didn't find it."

As store employees reviewed footage from the security cameras later, they determined that the suspect had actually slipped the diamond into his pocket. It's a 2.51 carat diamond valued at $23,000.

The diamond is laser engraved with the number 1325459268. The Southlake DPS is asking anyone who recognizes the man to contact Diana Smith at dsmith@ci.southlake.tx.us or at 817-748-8915 or to reach out to the department through social media.