‘I was crying all night’: Chicago jewelry booth owner loses over $300k worth of jewelry in smash & grab
CHICAGO – A jewelry booth owner lost some of her most valuable pieces Thursday night in a smash and grab crime.
Maria Gil, owner of Jayeria Dos Perlas inside the Super Mall in West Elsdon, told WGN thieves shattered a display case at her jewelry booth Thursday night and stole some of her most valuable items.
According to Gil, one of her employees was closing up the booth for the day when the incident happened.
“When the men showed the gun, she was scared and she (ran), too,” Gil said.
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The three alleged suspects were seen on surveillance video dressed in all black clothing and wearing masks. Chicago police said the suspects used a hammer to break the display case and steal the jewelry before running out to a getaway car.
Gil told WGN the thieves took over $300,000 worth of jewelry.
“Yesterday I was crying all night. I was so sad,” Gil said. “We work hard and it’s not good people came to get the pieces because we’re paying all the money we put in our business.”
For Gil, Thursday night’s incident feels like déjà vu. She said two other similar incidents happened last year where people pretended to try on jewelry and ended up stealing it.
“He (ran) with the necklace. The price was like $15,000,” Gil recalled.
After these incidents, Gil thought about closing up shop for good, but she insists she won’t let the thieves take away her passion for running a store and remains determined to keep it open.
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“This is the business I have and this is the business that permits me to eat, to pay my bills,” Gil said. “If I close, what will I do?”
Gil added she and some of the other jewelry booths inside the mall are thinking about hiring their own private security to prevent a reoccurrence of Thursday’s incident.
No arrests have been made at this time.
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