The Jewelers’ Security Alliance has issued a warning for traveling salespersons working in Utah after a traveling diamond salesman was reportedly robbed of $200,000 worth of merchandise at gunpoint outside a department store. JSA, in its “Crime Alert” electronic newsletter, said it is the third-such robbery of a salesperson in the Salt Lake City area.

“Salespersons are urged to exercise extreme caution in this area and to use evasive driving techniques before and after each sales call to reduce the risk of being followed,” JSA warned in its newsletter.

The most recent robbery occurred Tuesday afternoon when a salesman from California was heading into a Kohl’s department store in American Fork, a city about 30 miles Southwest of Salt Lake City, to do some shopping, according to the Salt Lake City newspaper, the Deseret Morning News.

He took his rolling bag containing the diamonds with him, police reportedly said.

As the man reached the entrance to the store, a green minivan with tinted windows, possibly a Chrysler, pulled up beside him, police reportedly told the newspaper. Three men slid open the side door and got out. One man pointed a gun at the jewelry salesman and demanded the rolling bag and the man’s car keys. The man handed over the items and the three men drove away.

The victim reportedly said that the men were wearing beanies and hooded sweatshirts and it was difficult to get a good look at their faces.

JSA said Tuesday’s robbery may be related to other robberies in the area. On Jan. 10, a salesperson at a Holiday Inn Express in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray was robbed by suspects in a dark-colored minivan. There was also an attack of a salesman Dec. 13 outside a Salt Lake City jewelry store. The man was grazed by a bullet.

JCK