A man with a sledgehammer shattered a jewelry case in a Buckhead department store and stole $90,000 worth of high-end watches over the weekend, authorities said.
The brazen smash-and-grab happened around noon Saturday in the Saks Fifth Avenue at Phipps Plaza, Atlanta police said Monday.
Authorities said the man parked his SUV outside the store and went inside with a sledgehammer tucked underneath his jacket. He smashed the display case and took four Chopard Alpine Eagle watches worth a total of nearly $90,000, according to police.
Video of the escape appeared to show the man hop into a Toyota SUV parked just outside the entrance and speeding off through the parking lot. His license plate was concealed by what looked to be a black plastic bag.
The investigation is ongoing, police said Monday.
Saturday’s shoplifting is the latest in an ongoing series of brazen thefts and burglaries at the high-end shopping destination. Earlier this year, Atlanta police arrested a man accused of stuffing more than $22,000 worth of merchandise into a suitcase in the middle of the night.
In that case, police responded to the Saks about 1 a.m. after that man entered through an emergency exit and tripped a silent alarm, authorities said. Inside his backpack, officers discovered a wire cutter, hammer, screwdriver and other items that allegedly belonged to the suspect.
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