Pair Sought in Daring Midday Armed Jewelry Heist in NYC - East Idaho News
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Pair Sought in Daring Midday Armed Jewelry Heist in NYC

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polic?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1415837174918iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — New York investigators are pouring over surveillance tapes looking for clues that will help them identify two heavily armed men who allegedly robbed a jewelry store in the city’s busy Diamond District, escaping with more than half a million dollars in jewelry and $6,000, according to authorities.

The heist occurred around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as the Veterans Day Parade passed by less than a block away.

“They had a great knowledge of the situation,” said Nick Casale, an ABC News consultant and former member of the NYPD. “They cased this place prior. They came in boldly. They came in comfortably.”

Police said one man posed as a delivery man Tuesday and was let into the eighth-floor Standard Jewelry Shop. Four workers were inside at the time, including owner Daniel Mikhaylov.

“Suspect No. 1 pulls out a gun and demands the jewelry in the safe to be placed into a bag that he was carrying,” said Deputy Chief William Aubrey. “A fifth employee returned during this time and was struck by suspect No. 1 in the head with a gun.”

Police said the second man involved in the robbery waited outside as a lookout. The worker who was struck in the head — Mikhaylov’s father — was in stable condition.

Mikhaylov told ABC News on Wednesday that 90% of the shop’s inventory — including Rolex watches, some diamonds, and Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry pieces — had been stolen.

He said that the pieces were not insured because the shop did “business among friends.”

He said he did not recognize either man.

He said the two men claimed they had more accomplices downstairs.

Police took their search to the rooftops on Wednesday with its K9 unit, hoping the dogs would catch a scent.

Sources, however, told ABC News that the pair likely didn’t exit from the roof and that they ran out the front of the building, going in two different directions and vanishing into the parade crowds.

Police said that one of the two had used the subway after leaving the building and that cameras had caught him entering the station.

They were reportedly running surveillance images through a mug shot database as well as fingerprints found at the scene.


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