By William Kenny
A jewelry heist in Crescentville on Monday netted unidentified burglars more than $1.3 million in loose diamonds, luxury watches, rings and pendants, Philadelphia police said.
A pair of burglars broke into the Kim Thanh Jewelry store at 5520 Whitaker Ave. by cutting through a sheetrock partition shared with the neighboring Bambu Cafe, then cracking open a safe that contained the high-priced merchandise. The crime occurred between midnight and 1 a.m.
Police said that an the owner of the jewelry store was notified by email at about 12:40 a.m. that “there was an issue with the alarm system at her store.” When the owner dispatched an employee to check on the business, the worker peered into the windows and detected nothing suspicious.
At about 2:10 a.m., the alarm company tried to contact the store owner by phone, but the owner didn’t pick up the call because her employee had already visited the store and found nothing awry.
When the owner arrived at the store at about 8:35 a.m. to open for business, she saw that the business had been burglarized and called police. A worker from Bambu Cafe told police that the burglars had sliced through the roof of the cafe, then through the wall to get inside the jewelry store. The crooks took nothing from the cafe.
Detectives obtained surveillance video from the scene and described the burglars as two men in all white clothing, including masks and gloves. There are no further descriptions. Visit the Philadelphia Police channel on YouTube.com to view surveillance video. Call 215–686-TIPS or text to PPD TIP to report information. ••
