Cops hope surveillance video helps them catch suspected smash and grab thief

JUPITER, Fla. - At Jupiter Jewelry and Gifts on Indiantown Road, they spent Friday morning cleaning up the damage.  One of the store owners chips away at broken glass from a case that a few moments earlier, had tens of thousands of dollars in jewelry inside.

In the police surveillance video, you see a man enter the store around 10:30.  Employees said he had wild eyes and asked to see a bracelet.  Seconds later, he boldly goes for the case, breaking it open with some type of object concealed in his palm.  Store owner Sue Orzech spotted him with his hand still in the case and grabbing a fistful of gold chains.  She runs out from the back, and lunges for him.  For a minute, she has a hold of his shirt but the suspect broke free and ran out of the store.

Jupiter Police Department spokeswoman Officer Sally Collins-Ortiz said the suspect managed to take off with jewelry valued at more than 10-thousand dollars. 

Orzech said the suspect knew exactly what he was looking for.  He bypassed other visible cases with more valuable jewelry and left behind diamonds that were in the broken case.  His goal was to snag gold chains that would be easier to sell.

To get into Jupiter Jewelry, you have to be buzzed in and there's also a button on the other side of the door just to get out. So how did the suspect manage to get in and out in just under a minute? He used a wood block to wedge the front door open.

The crime was so quick, the owners of Rosetta's produce next door had no idea what happened.

"This customer came in and said you'd better be careful next door just got robbed. I said 'you gotta be kidding me,' " said Joe Romero of Rosetta's.

Within a few hours after the crime, Jupiter Jewelry was back in business.  The suspect is described as a white male in his late teens or early twenties.  He's about 5'11" with a thin build last seen wearing a cap that may have had a Dolphins logo. He was also wearing a long sleeve black T-shirt with writing on both arms. 

If you have any information, you're asked to call Jupiter Police at 561-746-6201.