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A trio of skilled thieves stole a $40,000 6-carat diamond ring from right under the store owner’s nose at a Southern California jewelry store, but not without being caught on the store’s security cameras.
Two women and a man walked into Jewelry Fixx on Bouquet Canyon Rd A in Santa Clarita at around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday and distracted the store owner, before stealing the ring in the most cunning way.
Shop owner Edmond was behind the counter when they walked in, and his son Avo, who did not want to give his last name, told DailyMail.com the trio said they were Italian tourists wanting to take home a gift for their mother.
They looked first at the Rolex watches and then at the gold and diamond necklaces, asking many questions about which items were the most expensive.
Edmund told him KTLA News that the group were “talking to each other very loudly, and their hands were everywhere,” which perfectly matches the security video.
The heist began when the group saw the ring, an 18-karat gold marquee-shaped ring with a 4-carat diamond in the center and 2-carat diamonds on the side, and learned how much it was worth.
The trio of bandits, two unmasked women and one man, who stole a $40K diamond ring
An 18-karat gold marquee-shaped ring with a 4-carat diamond in the center and 2-carat diamonds on the side valued at $40,000 was stolen Wednesday by a trio of brazen thieves.
Avo said that the diamond ring was in the box and while one of the women was holding the box, her father was receiving the wrapping paper, gift bag and another box that they had ordered.
It was then that one of the women cunningly removed the ring from the box and concealed it behind a wallet she was holding.
That was the moment when one of the women cunningly snatched the ring from the box, closed the box and placed it on top of the tissue paper, while the man handed the owner $1,000 in cash.
He then closed the empty box and placed it in the wrapping paper while the man handed Edmond $1,000 in cash as a down payment.
Both women are seen here at the counter playing with the empty box they were placing on the tissue paper while the stolen ring was in the woman’s hand.
Avo told DailyMail.com: ‘I got quite distracted, asking what is the price of this or the price of that.
They wanted the ring. They had a big wad of cash and they were counting it. They said we’ll give you $1,000 right now, but we have to run out to the car to get our credit card and pay off the rest of the card.
As one of the women held the box with the ring inside, Edmond turned to find wrapping paper, a gift bag, and a different ring box they had ordered.
It was then that one of the women cunningly removed the ring from the box and concealed it behind a wallet she was holding.
He then closed the empty box and placed it in the wrapping paper while the man handed Edmond $1,000 in cash as a down payment.
The trio then told the store owner that they would return with his credit card to pay the rest of the $40,000 and left the store. Avo said they waited almost ten minutes before realizing what had happened.
“We opened the box and realized that the ring was missing. It was very fast. It happened in a thousandth of a second. They were very skilled, true professionals,” she said.
He said that the money they were given was turned over to the police as evidence. Avo said that he had no idea if they had been given counterfeit bills.
The store’s security video captured the brazen thieves who were all unmasked.
They looked like normal customers. There was nothing suspicious about them that we would have noticed,” Avo said.
‘We are a small family business. Every day is a fight to survive,” he said. “We are angry and we hope they get caught and we get the ring back.”
Avo’s father told the news outlet that it was his mistake to look the other way to get the wrapping paper and gift bag.
I shouldn’t have left it there. It is a lesson learned. You can not trust anyone. You have to be careful,’ she said.
The Los Angeles County sheriff’s office handling the case was not available when contacted by DailyMail.com, but authorities told the outlet that these robbers have likely burglarized before.
Anyone who recognizes the robbers is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office at 661-260-4000.
“We opened the box and realized that the ring was missing. It was very fast. It happened in a thousandth of a second. They were very skilled, true professionals,” said Avo, the son’s owner.
Fixx Jewelry is a family business. The store has been around for four decades and eight years ago moved to Santa Clarita from its original location in downtown Los Angeles.