It happened at L.I. Gold Mine on West Main Street in Smithtown at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police say it began with a woman who came in acting as if she needed a ring repaired. She was buzzed in and then held the door open as four masked men, two displaying handguns, entered the store.
The owner and an older female employee were held at gunpoint while the robbers smashed display cases and stole assorted jewelry.
"She's 70 years old," building owner Robert O'Connor said. "You hold a gun to a 70-year-old woman, it's insane."
The tense moments were caught on surveillance video.
Police came right away, but the suspects, seen in the surveillance video, had already left with bags of jewelry.
The five suspects drove away from the scene in a minivan, which they parked a short distance away, and then split up and fled in two other vehicles.
No one was injured.
The building owner told Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sager that the suspects cut themselves on the glass, opening up the possibility for DNA evidence.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the robbery to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.
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