Laguna Hills Mall Jewel Heist Was Inside Job as the videotape shows

 Laguna Journal Exclusive

By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter

Early reports indicate it took all five on duty workers 45 minutes to realize they had been robbed of up to a  million dollars' in high end jewelry. A black male was seen distracting the store manager during the robbery and later met up with the other robbers as they casually walked off together almost simultaneously. At least four other employees’ were in or near the store during the bold robbery and yet claim they saw nothing. One lady employee told the Journal “ I was present during the robbery but I saw nothing and no one else did either.” The suspect spend over six full minutes pilfering the jewelry cases in broad day light with at least three different camera angels focused on him the entire time. Its believed the robber used a key to gain entry to the jewelry cases. Authorities think the video yields even more clues as to what really happened that morning before, during and after the 11:00AM heist. Even though the video's clearly show the robbers and have been widely seen by the public over a week has past and the suspects are still at large.

The heist at Kevin Jewelers in Laguna Hills Mall Friday was executed with military precision. "They had to case the store and rehearse this in order to execute it so well, but it's not the perfect crime, because we have some very good videotape," said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.

Its believed by investigators that three men walked into the Laguna Hills store, the video shows two thieves taking positions at separate counters near the front of the store, talking with two salespeople about the jewelry.

A third dark complected bolding male with a mustache, heavyset and dressed in a dark suit and tie, walks into the jewelry store to a jewelry case in the back of the room. He looks around apparently to see if anyone other then his accomplices is watching. He confidently opens a gate, walks behind the counter and gets down behind the counter. He pulls out a key and opens the case, scooping out 48 engagement rings and two diamonds into his pockets, according to Amormino. .

During the crime, an unidentified Asian woman enters the picture and heads in the direction of the crouching man. One of the thieves thinks quickly and diverts the woman by asking the woman's opinion of a ring he is admiring. 

The man in the suit, still crouched down, returns some jewelry back into the case then locks the case and casually walks out the open door.

Amormino said investigators believed the three men stole goods from another Kevin Jewelers in the Tyler Mall in Riverside on Sept. 9.

The keys, he said, were believed to be a master set that recently went missing from a store in Victorville; no one had changed the locks.

The Journal has been told that a second jewelry store was robbed in the same Laguna Hills mall this summer and allegedly a credit card identity theft ring was believed operating from one of the malls vendors. And that last week Macy's jewelry dept at the Mission Mall was completely wiped out by an after hours theft. Both malls are owned or operated by Simon Malls Inc.