AVENTURA, Fla. – Surveillance video from a botched jewelry store robbery in Aventura shows the moments when thieves back a flatbed tow truck into the front doors.
The sound of glass shattering from the impact can be heard in the video taken from surveillance cameras at the International Jewelers Exchange. Three masked men can be seen jumping out, scurrying about, and speaking Spanish to one another. One of the thieves tells another se partió -- something broke.
Aventura Police received a call on Thursday morning about a burglary in progress at the store at 19275 Biscayne Blvd.
The timestamp of the surveillance video is 6:11 a.m.
Barely three minutes after smashing through the store, the thieves flee, getting away with nothing but leaving a mess behind.
(See the surveillance video)
They ditched the truck near 192nd Street near Biscayne Boulevard.
Investigators believe the thieves took off because of the swift arrival of police, underestimated the store’s state-of-the-art security system, or were expecting the tow truck what they thought was a crafty tool to work right, but it didn’t.
“Alarms were activated and police were notified and they responded asap,” said Tony Austin, head of security at International Jewelers Exchange.
Austin said that thieves may have been targeting a safe inside the store.
He reviewed the video on the day of the incident.
“Three individuals in ski masks back the vehicle into to store, ran around frantically, and couldn’t apparently pull it off. They tried to hook up the equipment, but it didn’t work and they fled, they left the tow truck,” he said. “This place is not to be messed with. Security’s airtight, like Fort Knox,” said Austin..
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 Aventura Police or Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-8477.