Jewelry Salesperson Heist Caught on Video

-- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 5/2/2008 10:38:00 AM

A robbery of a jewelry salesperson by what is believed to be South American gang members was caught by a surveillance camera outside of a Houston jewelry store.

A video of the robbery was posted on khou.com, the Web site of Houston television news station KHOU, channel 11. (Link removed).

This heist, which happened on Thursday, is one of several similar robberies in the Houston area, the television station reports. A theft task force to address the issue has been created consisting of investigators from the Houston Police Department and the FBI. They believe the suspects are from South America.

The latest incident happened outside Box & Box Custom Jewelry, the station reports.

The salesperson, who lives in New York, kept his inventory in a safe inside the store overnight, the station reports. Police reportedly said they believe he was followed from his hotel Thursday morning when he went to pick up his jewelry.

The surveillance video shows that the salesperson was in a car parked outside the front of the jewelry store. A white SUV pulls behind the car, three to four men jump out, busted the driver's side window of the victim's car, slashed the car tires and made off with the merchandise.

Part of the surveillance video was blacked out but the station reports that the thieves also took the car keys and opened up the trunk. The entire robbery took less than 30 seconds.

No injuries were reported.

Police said those same men are suspected in a rash of similar burglaries a couple of years ago, the station reports.

Thursday morning's heist was the eighth since February, the station reports.