Salt-and-pepper haired ‘shopper’ walks out with pricey diamond ring from Las Olas store

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The owner of Robinson’s Jewelers on Las Olas Boulevard is speaking to Local 10 News sharing what happened in his store. He wants to make sure any other store owner is duped by a diamond ring thief.

“I want the community to know that we were victimized,” said Andrew Robinson, who owns the store with his wife, Tracy. “He was definitely a professional; there was no doubt about it.”

A man came into the store and pocketed a pricey piece of jewelry.

“It was a very substantial ring for us,” Robinson said, adding that the ring was worth $412,000.

“We had taken a ring out like this and another ring out like that. He then went over to the other side of our store and he asked the girl to see another piece. He said, ‘Oh, I love that bracelet. I am going to come back and buy it’ and then when he walked out, that was empty.”

Robinson said they discovered what had happened only a few minutes after the man left the store.

“We found out maybe two minutes later. We ran down the street to try and catch him and unfortunately, we were not able to do so we phoned the police right away. We would like to see this man caught before he does it to somebody else,” Robinson said.

The November theft felt like a punch to the gun, Robinson said. For small business owners like Robinson’s Jewelers, emerging from COVID-related challenges has taken a mix of grit and determination.

“It has been a tough time for small businesses with the pandemic and it sure doesn’t help. I can tell you that,” he said.

Robinson said he is hoping someone in the community recognizes the man and calls police.

“Hopefully nobody else in our community is victimized,” Robinson said, adding he was grateful that no one was hurt.

Fort Lauderdale police said the thief is a white male with salt-and-pepper colored hair, approximately 60 years old, wearing a red, white, and blue FILA jacket, gray sweatpants, and black and white shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Jordan Vazquez at (954) 828-5645 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-8477.

Robinson Jewelers isn’t alone. Small businesses across the country have dealt with more shoplifters than usual during the pandemic. According to a recent Business.org survey of small business owners, “shoplifting worsened in 2021.” The survey goes on to state that “in the US, 89% of small business owners have had a customer shoplift from their store in 2021.”