MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A group of thieves who used sledgehammers to break through glass jewelry display cases last month is believed to have targeted a second flea market store just two days before the robbery.
Local 10 News spoke Thursday to the owner of the Gold R Us booth at Flea Market USA on Northwest 79th Street, who said thieves targeted his store on Oct. 23.
Surveillance video released Thursday shows five men, one of them armed with a rifle, barging inside the booth and smashing the display cases to remove the jewelry.
The owner said a similar robbery happened Oct. 21 at his store at the Carol Mart Flea Market in Miami Gardens.
The stores are just down the street from one another on 27th Avenue.
"You ask anybody. They're going to tell you the same thing. It's crazy," the owner, who did not want to be identified, said.
The owner said he vividly remembers what happened at his store in Miami Gardens and said it took just seconds.
"They just came with the hammers, smashed the showcases, took the stuff and ran away," he said.
The owner said the thieves also used sledgehammers in that robbery to break the display cases.
Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.