NYC gang robs TWO MILLION dollars worth of jewelry

Moment NYC gang robs TWO MILLION dollars worth of jewelry from Bronx store on weekday afternoon as city’s crime spiral continues

• Surveillance footage captured the moment four masked thieves made off with more than $2.15 million worth of jewelry Friday afternoon
• It shows a black man in a white t-shirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap holding the door to Rocco’s Jewelry in the Bronx open just after 2.30pm
• Three other men then come rushing into the store, quickly filling up a red, reusable shopping bag with trays of jewelry
• The theft follows a string of similar incidents in the Bronx and Brooklyn
• Cops are now offering a $3,500 reward for information about the suspects 

Surveillance footage captured the shocking moment four masked thieves made off with more than $2 million worth of jewelry from an NYC store before fleeing in broad daylight.

It shows a man in a white t-shirt, sunglasses, dark jeans and a baseball cap standing outside the entrance of Rocco’s Jewelry in the Bronx just after 2.30pm on Friday before the door opens.

Rather than step inside, however, the man holds the door open as two other men in masks run inside.

Once they are safely inside the store, one of the men could be seen pulling out a blacksmith hammer he uses to start breaking open glass display cases, as the other man wearing dark clothing, a green baseball cap and white sneakers takes out a full tray of jewelry.

At that point, a third accomplice runs into the store and opens up a red reusable shopping bag that the man in the green cap dumps the contents of the tray into.

Together, they proceed to grab what appears to be for more trays of jewelry as the first man continues to guard the door as people pass by.

After about 45 seconds, the brazen thieves run out the store, fleeing on foot. 

Store employees estimate that the thieves made off with $2.15 million worth of merchandise, the New York Daily News reports.

Surveillance footage from Rocco’s Jewelry caught the moment a man wearing a white t-shirt, dark pants, sunglasses and a baseball cap held the door open for three thieves after waiting outside for a manager to open the door

Once inside, one of the men could be seen pulling out a blacksmith hammer he uses to start breaking open glass display cases

Rocco’s Jewelry, which is just steps away from Fordham University and is down the road from the New York Botanical Garden, remained closed on Saturday as police continued to investigate the theft.

Store employees say a manager buzzed the first man into the store after he waited outside, they told the Daily News, noting that one of the men kept grabbing his pocket as if he had a gun, but never displayed one.

Witnesses said they believe the theft was well-planned out as they described to CBS 2 how the banging of the hammer was so loud, they thought they were hearing gunshots.

‘They came in, boom, boom, boom, in and out, gone,’ one man said, as another described the event as ‘Unfortunate, even though [the store’s] probably insured.

‘But this type of stuff happens,’ he said.

In fact, the brazen mid-afternoon theft follows a string of similar ones at other New York City jewelry stores.

On May 1, the Daily News reports, a man in a black hoodie rushed to the window of M & NP Jewelers elsewhere in the Bronx swinging a sledgehammer.

He then bashed through the plate glass window and grabbed as much jewelry as he could through a hole in the glass, passing what he could to an accomplice holding a bag.

The very next day, a half dozen thieves hit Dorian’s Jewelry in Brooklyn using a sledgehammer and a pickaxe to smash through the front window.

Those thieves made off with more than $187,000 in gold jewelry.

Cops now believe the crew is responsible for 16 more burglaries in the Bronx and Queens dating back to February 25. 

They are now offering a reward of up to $3,500 for any information about leading to the arrest of the suspects in Friday’s theft, who are all described as black men in their 20s with slim builds.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.

The mid-day theft on Friday came just days after New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed that just 10 individual criminals made up for 500 of the arrests in the city over the last two years — and at least six of them are still walking the streets.

He called on judges and the New York State Legislature to do away with lax bail reforms he says are keeping criminals on the street, explaining how the 2020 reforms, ushered in under former Gov Andrew Cuomo and ex New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, made it impossible for criminals to be jailed.

At the press conference, Adams, a former cop, fumed: ‘You have to work really hard to get to Rykers right now. To get there, you did something that is really bad.’ 

He allowed some of the cops to give details on some of the ten offenders – but refused to share their names or mugshots with the press, claiming he had to ‘follow the rules’. 

Among them was a criminal referred to as ‘recidivist number one’ who has been arrested 101 times in his life, mostly for petite larceny. 

‘We’ve arrested him 101 times, but how many crimes do you think he really committed? 200? 300? 1,000?’ Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said. 

‘This individual I’m talking about, he has 14 failures to appear.

‘He’s walking around the streets today probably committing another crime as we speak,’ he added. 

Another of them is a burglar who has been arrested 57 times since 2020, while another has assaulted a police officer and failed to show up to court but remains on the streets. 

‘He is a crime wave and guess what? He is walking around the streets of New York City, probably out there committing another crime.’ 

Despite the fact that some of the men have open crime warrants out against them, Adams would not name them at the press conference. 

He said he was bound by ‘the rules of counsel’ and that he couldn’t share the men’s identity. 

On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed  that just 10 individual criminals made up for 500 of the arrests in the city over the last two years — and at least six of them are still walking the streets

Crime in NYC continues to soar as more repeat offenders are let out on now-or-low-cash bonds

Meanwhile crime in the Big Apple continues to spiral out of control.

According to data released by the New York Police Department, violent crimes throughout the five boroughs are up 36.8 percent over last year.

Driving that increase is a notable increase in the number of robberies and burglaries, which are up 39.6 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

The number of grand larcenies is now nearly double the number of what it was at the same time last year, according to the data, while grand larcenies from cars are up 44.4 percent. 

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