A man posing as a customer has stolen two rings which featured a 9.18-carat, pear shaped diamond set as a centrepiece surrounded by smaller diamonds and a 2.08-carat stone surrounded by a ring of smaller diamonds.
At an international mall in Tampa, Florida, USA on Monday last week, a well-dressed man entered a King Jewellers in International Plaza and requested to view a diamond ring. The Jewellers is located at 2223 North West Shore Boulevard, near Nordstrom in the International Plaza shopping mall. When the shop assistant, Susai King, took out the ring and passed it to the customer for viewing, the man pulled out a gun from the waistband of his suit in the middle of the jewellery store.
King reported that she pushed the tall, heavy man back, but despite her attempts, the man took another diamond from inside the glass display case. A preliminary police report has been released which states that both King and the man struggled over both the gun and the diamond rings.
"She tried to take the ring back from him," co-owner King said. "He reacted aggressively and grabbed another ring from the display window," in fact bruising the shop assistant’s hand as a result of the violent action.
Other employees attempted to assist but the faux customer ran away and escaped with the two rings in his possession. According to the co-owner of the Jewellers, Gabriel King, the diamond rings are estimated to be worth approximately $150,000 (£95,914).
Gabriel King expressed that he was shocked and afraid when the man showed his gun, but claimed he still managed to chase the thief outside of the shopping mall where he drove off in a 2006 Dodge Caravan which had been waiting for him outside.
Gabriel King explained, "He just jumped in and they took off."
The owner managed to record the vehicle’s registration number but was unable to see the driver clearly. The van in question was later located down the road in a car park where police discovered that it had been reported stolen from Lakeland.
Using descriptions from various onlookers who caught sight of the robber, police on the case have described the man as approximately 6 foot 4 inches tall, weighing around 180 pounds. They believe he is aged between 38 and 40 years old. The man had dyed blond hair and during the crime he has wearing a smart grey suit and glasses. A surveillance video has been made available for evidence to the police and co-owner King is hoping that they can assess fingerprints which may have been left on the glass display case.