Video: Thieves Rob $200,000 In Diamonds From Chicago-Area Store in Broad Daylight

By aaroncynic in News on Sep 5, 2013 7:40PM

Police in Naperville, Ill. are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to identifying three individuals suspected of stealing diamonds worth up to $200,000.

Surveillance footage (which we've embedded below) shows a woman casually yet brazenly grabbing a box of loose diamonds from behind the counter at Precious Fine Jewelry. The Chicago Tribune reports the trio of thieves entered the shop at separate times and used the tried and true shoplifting method of distracting the owner to make off with the loot.

Police say a man first entered the store, asking to see some loose diamonds for a ring. He was followed shortly by a woman who asked for help finding a gift for her father. The salesman, Rajesh Patel, placed the loose diamonds behind the counter as a third woman, shown in the video, entered the store and loitered around. While Patel was busy attending to the first female customer, the second suspected female picked up the merchandise, stuffed it into her purse behind a pole and sauntered out.

Patel told CBS2 he couldn’t believe the ruse worked and none of the three exhibited suspicious behavior. Naperville Police Sgt. Lou Cammiso told the Trib “They walked in separately to not indicate they were together. And they walked out in different directions. No car was seen.”

While distracting a store clerk is one of the more common tactics in shoplifting, usually such a move is reserved for smaller heists in convenience stores. If the three alleged individuals were in fact working together, it must’ve taken some careful rehearsal to pull off a caper of this magnitude. Police are asking anyone with information to call the Naperville Crime Stoppers at 630-420-6006.