New York police search for thieves in $6 million New Year's jewelry heist
By David Ingram
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thieves in New York broke into a jewelry wholesaler and made off with $6 million in valuables on New Year's Eve, just blocks from the nationally televised and highly secured Times Square street party celebrating the holiday, police said on Tuesday.
Three men broke in to a building on Manhattan's 36th Street at 10 p.m. on Saturday, police said. A surveillance video released by police showed a bearded man wearing a hooded jacket and looking into the camera. Another man, wearing what looks like a mask, was shown lunging toward the camera and the video ends.
Police asked for assistance in identifying the suspects. They did not say how they determined a third thief was involved.
The break-in at the Gregg Ruth jewelry company occurred a few blocks from where hundreds of thousands of people protected by thousands of officers gathered in Times Square to mark the start of 2017 by watching a crystal ball drop.
The thieves used a pry-bar and a hammer to get into the wholesaler on the sixth floor of the building. They left through a stairwell, the police said.
The jewelry company specializes in colored stones such as yellow and pink diamonds, according to its website. Representatives for the company, which is owned by KGK Holdings, could not immediately be reached on Tuesday.
(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Bill Trott)
