Not seeing the benefit of wearing a helmet?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6807812.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2015164
A motorcycle gang grabbed £2 million of jewels from an exclusive London store in just 39 seconds in a raid captured in dramatic detail on CCTV.
Six robbers on three motorcycles roared up the pavement to Mozafarian jewellers opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge.
One of the robbers smashed open the glass door with a sledgehammer before the gang, all wearing crash helmets, stormed in and smashed open display cabinets.
The haul of gems included a £500,000 diamond necklace. However, the robbers were unable to break their way into one display case containing further £3 million of gems.
Last week’s raid came nearly a fortnight after an unconnected gang seized a record £40 million of jewellery at Graff in nearby Mayfair.
Pouya Nikomagham, a sales assistant at Mozafarian, said that the highly organised gang members did not say a word as they raided the store.
“They were very professional, they knew what they were doing and where to go,” said Mr Nikomagham.
“Perhaps they sent a woman in earlier posing as a customer to check how the security door worked and location of the most valuable jewels.
“One of the robbers tried to get into a display case which had £3 million of jewels but even though he it hit 12 times with the big hammer the glass did not break.”
Staff had just finished laying out the display cases when the motorbikes pulled up outside at 10.59am on Wednesday last week.
Mr Nikomagham immediately pressed a panic button that alerted the police but officers did not arrive at the store for almost eight minutes. It took the robbers less than a minute to force open the display cases, grab the jewels and escape.
Mr Nikomagham said that the raid, the latest of a series of robberies of Central London jewellers, could result in the store shutting down.
“We have considered closing the shop for good,” he said. “It is not worth risking it, you only live once.”
There have been at least 70 similar raids so far this year.
Six men on motorcycles smashed open the door of the Harvey Nichols store in Knightsbridge in May before snatching tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery. Another six-strong motorcycle gang attempted to raid Watches of Switzerland in Old Bond Street in February.
Detectives suspected that the smash-and-grab gangs are part of a “Fagin’s Kitchen” of between 30 and 50 loosely connected individuals, many of the them teenagers.
Scotland Yard is appealing for anyone with any information about the raid to call Barnes Flying Squad on 020-8247 4804 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.