Police looking for suspects in jewelry store heist in Midtown Manhattan
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Police are looking for suspects in a jewelry store robbery in Midtown Tuesday afternoon, less than a block from the Veterans Day Parade route, and they're hoping new surveillance video will lead to arrests.
Two armed suspects hit the store on West 47th Street off Fifth Avenue just after 2:30 p.m. The two, one posing as a deliveryman, held employees of an eighth-floor store called Watch Standard at gunpoint and forced a worker to open the safe.
Authorities said three men and one woman were in the office, including a 56-year-old man, his 27-year-old daughter, his 32-year-old son and his son's 37-year-old friend. They were robbed of cash and jewelry, and the 56-year-old was apparently pistol whipped in the head before being ordered to open the safe.
The owner opened the safe and ran out. Police were reviewing surveillance cameras to see where the suspects went.
Detectives recovered more video Wednesday, including one that shows the two suspects entering the subway station at Sixth Avenue and West 47th Street following the robbery and going through the turnstiles.
Detectives are running the surveillance pictures through a mug shot database, hoping for a match. And they are running fingerprints recovered at the scene.
The robbery has rattled the normally stable street.
"We show each other, diamond dealers, our goods in the street, look at it in the street and never have a fear," said diamond dealer Joseph Governali.
The robbers took 90 percent of the inventory according to one of the owners of the business, who says they took mostly high end Rolex watches, many covered with diamonds, 50 to 60 karats..pieces that are solid gold.
The owner revealed that none of the treasures were insured.
Late into Tuesday night, crime scene units dusted nearby business for fingerprints, searching for clues. Earlier in the day, the response was almost military. Heavily armed Hercules units lined the streets, police dogs scoured the neighborhood, and helicopters searched from above.
Workers in the Diamond District were locked in their stores and offices and checked one by one. And eventually, they were escorted out, single file, as K-9 units searched inside and on the rooftops.
There was a heavily armed police presence at the scene, as seen in these videos provided courtesy of Avi Kessler.
The first suspect is described as approximately 6 feet tall, 40-50 years of age, wearing a dark trench coat, light colored slacks, and a tweed colored Kangol hat.
The second suspect is described as tall, 30-40 years of age wearing a red baseball cap, True Religion jeans, black zipper hoodie, and black sneakers.
"They went in there boldly because they knew what they were doing," said Nicholas Casale, a retired NYPD captain who said the suspects made some big mistakes.
They weren't wearing gloves and their faces can be seen clearly. They initially posed as deliverymen and the owner says he thought it was a regular dropoff for food.
After the robbery, the owner believes the men took the elevator down and split up, one heading to 5th Avenue, the other to 6th.
"They did their preliminary planning, they came in during Veterans Day when everyone was distracted, came in fast and leave quickly," said Casale.
