It started just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when a man wearing a security uniform walked up to the doors of the jewelry store, located in St. Davids, and asked to be buzzed in.
Police Superintendent William Colarulo tells Action News, "As soon as the store clerk hit the buzzer, he and approximately four other males rushed into the store."
The suspects were wearing masks and waving guns around, and they made terrified employees and customers sit on the floor. Then they went straight to the case full of Rolex watches. They started smashing the glass with claw hammers, and scooped up every watch in sight.
The police say they were very organized and methodical and had clearly spent time scoping out this location.
Superintendent Colarulo says, "To get here and specifically have tunnel vision to go to one specific area, you're obviously looking for something specific, and you know it's at that location."
Police were back on the scene on Thursday dusting for fingerprints. Wednesday night they recovered the security jacket worn by one of the robbers. He tried to hide it under a car in the parking lot. Police are hoping to recover DNA evidence from it.
Investigators are also looking at a possible connection to the robbery of a jewelry store in Lower Merion on January 9th. The robbers used the same M.O. in both cases, going for the high-end watches. Police suspect they're part of an organized gang.
At the Robbins store, employees were still shaken but kept busy cleaning up the damage. The manager says they're just grateful no one got hurt.
The store manager, Gad Azuelos, tells us, "The main thing is that everyone is OK and we're very confident that the police is doing whatever they can and will catch these guys."
No one saw which way the robbers went when they left the store, but the police suspect they used the nearby Blue Route as a convenient escape route.
Investigators are hoping someone recognizes the suspects captured on the store's surveillance video. The store's owner is offering a $5,000 reward for information.
