Andrea Medeiros
amedeiros@abc6.com
A robber smashed through a jewelry store window, early Monday morning, and police said the owner's good sense may help them catch the guy.
The store has been robbed three times now, this time losing 10 grand in jewelry. And while his alarm system and surveillance video didn't stop it from happening, the owner's cameras caught an up close look of the robber's face.
A trail of broken glass led to Don Boehner's downtown Providence jewelry store on Peck Street, Monday.
Around midnight a man smashed in Don's storefront window with a hammer, then waited an hour and a half, and came back to snatch up what he wanted, 10 thousand dollars worth of jewelry. It only took him a minute
"So they probably had been in and cased it out and came in and did it," said Don, "All the expensive things that were in the store still were gone. All the watches and all the gold and diamonds in one case."
Another local store owner said he saw the guy in the area Friday, scoping out Copacetic Jewelry. And as police dusted for finger prints in Don's store and searched for the man who made the mess, Don said he's not sure how much longer he can go on like this.
His shop has been robbed three times in three years. "I just keep going and put up more bars on the windows, which I don't like to do, but every robber teaches you what to do for the next time," he said.
That could cost up to 12 grand, and Don has already lost 30 thousand dollars from the robberies.
He can't afford to get robbed again and either can another store owner about a block away on Dorrance Street. He's only been open a couple months and thieves have broken in several times and have stolen 15 thousand dollars in electronics.
"If it keeps happening like this, we're going to end up closing by the end of the year," said electronics store owner Abdul Alnahas, "I don't think we're going to make it to Christmas if it keeps on happening."
