HOUSTON – Police are searching for three men who carried out a brazen robbery, stealing $355,000 worth of Rolex watches at a jewelry store inside the Galleria mall, Local 2 Investigates reported Friday.
"In and out, less than a minute," said Khanh Le, assistant manager of the Ben Bridge Jewelers, where the men used a hammer to smash out one display case and haul away 20 watches in a duffel bag.
Le said the robbers were standing outside the store among other shoppers, waiting for most of the customers to leave his store around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. He said the robbers then stormed in as two families were still shopping.
"When they realized what was happening, they took off," he said, adding that one family ducked down and moved away from the action while the other couple ran away.
"I trained my staff to get on the floor," he said.
When the first man rushed in, he reached into his waistband and pulled out a hammer to smash the case.
"Good thing it was a sledgehammer. I thought it was a gun," Le said.
The police report, reviewed by Local 2 Investigates, detailed the hefty losses:
• 5 Rolex watches valued at $30,000 each
• 10 Rolex watches valued at $16,000 each
• 5 Rolex watches valued at $9,000 each
The report said the first robber smashed the case, while the other two started quickly loading the watches into a duffel bag.
Police listed the description of all three robbers as being black men between 18 and 25 years old, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall and about 175 pounds.
Le said the men pulled their hoods over their heads and covered their faces with handkerchiefs before they rushed into the store.
"They knew (what they were looking for). They came in a few days prior. We've had thousands of people in here over the last few days," said Le.
The police report says all three men ran out into the mall and then left the building without being spotted.
The jewelry chain declined to release surveillance video, which captured the entire robbery.
Le said he was thankful that no one was hurt.
The general manager of the Galleria, David Anderson, issued the following written statement.
"Whenever an incident like this occurs in our community, our primary concern is always for the safety of our customers and mall employees. We are pleased to report that no one was injured during this unfortunate incident, and contrary to reports, there were no firearms used in the robbery.
"Since this incident is currently under investigation by the Houston Police Department, we are unable to disclose any further information.
"The Galleria is committed to providing a safe, quality shopping environment to our customers and mall employees.
"In doing so, we take several proactive security measures like maintaining a combination of security forces on property at all times that includes Galleria Security in tandem with Houston Police Department presence.
"We also provide shoppers with security escorts to their vehicles upon request and maintain a continuous security patrol of the Galleria and surrounding parking lots.
"As always, we encourage our customers and mall employees to report suspicious activity immediately to mall security."
Police and security guards were visible throughout the mall Friday afternoon, which is typical.
The store is back open, with wood covering the glass display case that was shattered in the robbery.
No one was hurt and no weapon was displayed.