AVENTURA, Fla. – Thieves smashed a vehicle through a jewelry store in Aventura early Thursday morning but detectives believe they didn’t get away with any merchandise. The head of security at the store, however, thinks he knows exactly what they were after — a safe.
Aventura Police said that a call came in around 6:14 a.m. about the burglary in progress and they responded quickly to the International Jewelers Exchange at 19275 Biscayne Blvd.
Detectives say they believe the robbery was thwarted because of the swift arrival of police although they are still assessing the damage and collecting information.
“Alarms were activated and police were notified and they responded asap,” said Tony Austin, head of security at International Jewelers Exchange.
Austin said there is surveillance video of the crime in progress showing the thieves using a tow truck to plow through the front windows.
“There were three hooded individuals wearing ski masks, they backed the vehicle in, ran around the store frantically, couldn’t apparently pull it off, they tried to hook up the equipment and fled. In fact, they left the tow truck.”
Damage to the front of the store was extensive. On Friday, workers were putting up plywood and the store remained closed.
There were concerns by some of the vendors, many of whom are Jewish, that the break-in attempt may have had something to do with hate or was racially motivated because of the current war in Israel. We asked the police department and they said there was no indication that was the case and that it appears that the motive was simply an attempt to steal.
There were no injuries and the suspects are still at large.
Anyone with information should call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-8477.