Thieves who tied up the manager of a popular Buckhead jewelry store inside his Cobb County home while accomplices cleaned out his shop may have made off with as much as $10 million in jewelry, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Two masked gunmen followed the manager of Icebox Diamonds & Watches to his Smyrna home the night of Feb. 16, forced him and his wife inside and took the keys and codes to the store, police said.
Investigators said the couple was ambushed after returning from dinner at nearby South City Kitchen, the news station reported, adding the two were bound with duct tape and zip ties.
The men threatened to kill them if they didn’t do what they were told, according to police reports.
The couple was separated and one of the men stayed inside the home while a second drove their Toyota Rav4 to the store on Peachtree Road about 11:30 p.m., where another robber was waiting, records show.
Two of the store’s seven safes were cleared out and an undetermined amount of jewelry and watches were stolen, according to an Atlanta police report. Investigators said on Monday the owner has still not provided them with an itemized list of the stolen items, nor has he handed over the surveillance footage.
The thieves had a full two hours to take what they wanted, according to the report, which indicates the men didn’t leave until about 1:30 a.m.
Two men captured on the store’s surveillance footage appear to be speaking on FaceTime as they enter codes to open the two safes, according to the report.
Atlanta police did not learn of the burglary until an hour after they left.
“There was no damaged property at the store itself, so they obviously knew exactly what they wanted to do and were able to execute it,” Atlanta police spokesman Officer Jarius Daugherty told the news station.
The Atlanta jewelry store is known for its celebrity clientele.
Jewelry and cash were also taken from the manager’s home during the invasion, police said. He and his wife were not injured.
Atlanta police are investigating the Icebox burglary and Cobb police are handling the home invasion. Detectives on Monday released a surveillance image from the jewelry store that shows two men in hooded sweatshirts standing near the store’s safes. One of the safes is open. Their faces are not clearly shown.
No arrests have been made in the case.
“We continue our efforts to determine all of the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said.
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