Ice Heist Fit For Hollywood Stuns Tribeca
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- A jewel heist at a boutique store in TriBeCa is raising eyebrows – not only for what was swiped but also for how it was done.
"I was numb. I'm speechless," Nirvana International owner Amit Sharma told CBS 2's Scott Rapoport.
More than $500,000 in diamonds, sapphires and platinum was stolen from Sharma's jewelry store over the weekend.
And you won't believe how the crooks pulled it off.
"It's like something you see in the movies," Sharma said.
Indeed, like something out of a movie. Sharma said cops told him the thieves entered through a construction site attached to his building, busted open a window on the fourth floor, walked down the stairway to the second floor and then ...
"They came through the ceiling. Yes. Exactly," Sharma told Rapoport.
That's right. Sharma said they cut through the floor above and lowered themselves right into his private office using a ladder.
"I saw the ladder coming down. You can see exactly what they did," Sharma said.
He said they managed to crack open his safe, removing the enormous door and taking everything he had -- everything -- at the height of the holiday shopping season.
"I don't have a single piece to sell anymore," Sharma said.
Sharma said he had an elaborate alarm system with sensors, but that it never went off.
One potential saving grace is the fact that he had four video cameras positioned inside the store. Sharma said the NYPD have those tapes and he's hoping it'll lead them to the brazen bandits. But so far, police said they have no suspects and have made no arrests.
They were stone-cold thieves -- who made off with the ice.
Sharma said he did have some insurance, but not nearly enough to cover the worth of his stolen jewels.
