London police ask for help to solve 'audacious burglary' of $600K worth of jewelry - USA TODAY
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Thieves in London pulled off "an audacious burglary" at a jewelry store, stealing more than $600,000 worth of valuables, police say.
A central London jewelry shop was burglarized over the weekend when thieves broke through a wall to enter the store, and London's Metropolitan Police on Wednesday made public pleas for information.
"This was an audacious burglary, and there are elements which appear to have been planned with some precision by the suspects," Detective Superintendent Simon Moring said in a statement.
"I would urge people who were in the area to think back. It may be that you saw something and now realize it may have been out of place. If this is the case, please make contact with us, even if that is anonymously," he added.
The crime took place on the busy Fleet Street in central London. British news outlets identified the jeweler as George Attenborough and Son.
Police wouldn't say what had been stolen other than "a quantity of jewelry," but estimated a loss of £500,000, or around $660,000.
Authorities on Wednesday also downplayed the complexity of the burglary.
"It is nowhere near the sophistication of some previous burglaries dealt with by the Flying Squad, including high profile crimes such as the Hatton Garden burglary in 2015," Moring said.
The weekend heist drew comparisons in British media to the Hatton Garden incident in which a group of elderly men stole from underground safe deposit boxes in the area known for the city's jewelry industry. According to The Guardian, those thieves nabbed millions in diamonds, gold, jewelry and cash.
London police said on Tuesday that heavy cutting equipment was used to break into a vault containing safety deposit boxes in the Hatton Garden jewelry district. (April 8) AP
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