Miami

Men Wanted in Smash and Grab Jewelry Thefts: MDPD

Police are looking for a group of men accused in a series of smash and grab jewelry thefts in Miami-Dade.

According to police, the group of men have targeted several flea markets throughout Miami-Dade since March.

In the robberies, a few of the men leap over the counters and smash the glass display cases removing jewelry, while the others stand by with the getaway car and high powered rifles.

Yakov Alisha relived the robbery of his jewelry shop in the 79th Street Flea Market in Miami, which was captured on surveillance video.

"A couple of guys jumped on me, put me down, tried to hurt me and they were taking the jewelry, opening the showcases and taking the jewelry," Alisha said.

The robbery happened on May 7th at 4:30 in the afternoon. Within seconds, the robbers made out with over $250,000 in gold.

Detectives say two other robberies happened at the Flea market and also nearby on the 7th and the 26th of March.

All five suspects were caught on surveillance video and now detectives are linking them to other crimes in Broward County.

They've been seen with two different cars, police say. One, a black Nissan Maxima, and the other a black Nissan SUV.

They're all described as black men in their early to mid 20's, all standing between 5'7" and 6'2".

All five men are described as having thin to muscular builds.

Police believe the men may also be connected to a similar robbery at a Lauderhill jewelry store.

The group of men were seen smashing display cases and taking thousands of dollars worth of gold chains. The shop owner and her female clerks fought back, but the men still managed to get away with more than $200,000 worth of pure gold chains.

"I want them to get caught so another jewelry shop doesn't get robbed like me again," said owner Sue Shimochi, who was seen in the surveillance video fighting off the robbers with a metal stick.

"I hope they're going to get caught because it keeps going on," added Alisha.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.

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