Caught on camera — a smash and grab at a jewlery store inside a Fort Worth grocery store Sunday afternoon. Sophia Beausoleil has more from a witness who described the chaotic crime.
Fort Worth police are searching for a group of men accused of robbing a jewelry store in broad daylight inside a supermarket. The smash-and-grab was caught on camera as the suspects fled the store.
Just before 4:55 p.m. on Feb. 9, Fort Worth police responded to a robbery call at El Rancho Supermercado on Main Street.
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WATCH HEREWitnesses described the men using a metal tool to smash a glass display at the jewelry store inside the grocery store. In the video, the men are seen carrying cases that police said were filled with jewelry.
"I thought it was a fight, and no, they were breaking the jewelry cases," said Lourdes Torres, who was waiting in line to buy groceries.
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SIGN UP "They did it so fast, less than two minutes probably. It was something very terrible. Tt was scary," Torres said.
In the video, someone is seen confronting the suspects as they fled the scene.
"We just didn't know what to do. The cashier started running and telling everybody to run and back off because we didn't know what the guys were carrying or what they would be doing next," Torres said.
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Police said the four suspects walked away with an undisclosed amount of jewelry.
"The way they're acting and taking and, you know, robbing these businesses is violent, and it's dangerous," said Officer Daniel Segura of the Fort Worth Police Department.
He said investigators are looking into whether the robbery is tied to a similar crime that happened at an El Rancho in East Dallas in December.
In that incident, surveillance video showed a group of men using a sledgehammer to break a glass case and steal more than $60,000 worth of jewelry. It happened in the afternoon, just before 5 p.m., while shoppers were inside the store.
"I really want them to have more security there," Torres said about the Fort Worth store. She said she had trouble sleeping the night of the robbery and is still too nervous to go back.
Investigators in Houston are also looking into a similar crime that happened at El Rancho in November. Police have not said whether the crimes are connected.
