Gregory Diamond
12-01-2005, 03:52 PM
Fed-Ex impostors swipe $4 million in Diamond District heist
NOVEMBER 30, 2005 - New York -- Two armed men posing as Federal Express workers pulled off a midday heist of a reported $4 million in goods yesterday from jewelry wholesaler Doppelt & Greenwald Diamonds at 580 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, according to The New York Times and other published reports.
One robber held out a gun while his accomplice tied up five employees and two customers, according to the Times report. The robbery of the heavily guarded building in the heart of New York's diamond district ?home to numerous wholesalers, the Gemological Institute of America and the New York Diamond Dealers Club?brought the area to a standstill.
The thieves spent at least five minutes in the wholesaler's office, but never fired a shot, according to police. The culprits filled a duffel bag with diamonds and other jewelry before calmly leaving the building through the employee entrance on West 47th Street, police said. The thieves were caught on video surveillance tape as they left the building.
New York Police Capt. Stephen Hughes told the Times that a worker at the wholesaler managed to free himself from his restraints and alert a building security guard, who then called 911 at about 12:50 p.m. Officers from the police department's emergency services unit arrived on the scene shortly afterward, barging into the building wearing shields and helmets and carrying sledgehammers and high-powered rifles, the Times reported.
Several tenants of the building told the Times that the building had installed a new security system six years ago that included color video surveillance cameras at all entry points, elevators, hallways and other common areas.
"Every person entering this building is identified," Joseph Weinfeld, a jewelry wholesaler with offices in the building, told the newspaper. "All the visitors, tenants, deliverymen?security knows who they are and where they're going. Or at least they're supposed to."
NOVEMBER 30, 2005 - New York -- Two armed men posing as Federal Express workers pulled off a midday heist of a reported $4 million in goods yesterday from jewelry wholesaler Doppelt & Greenwald Diamonds at 580 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, according to The New York Times and other published reports.
One robber held out a gun while his accomplice tied up five employees and two customers, according to the Times report. The robbery of the heavily guarded building in the heart of New York's diamond district ?home to numerous wholesalers, the Gemological Institute of America and the New York Diamond Dealers Club?brought the area to a standstill.
The thieves spent at least five minutes in the wholesaler's office, but never fired a shot, according to police. The culprits filled a duffel bag with diamonds and other jewelry before calmly leaving the building through the employee entrance on West 47th Street, police said. The thieves were caught on video surveillance tape as they left the building.
New York Police Capt. Stephen Hughes told the Times that a worker at the wholesaler managed to free himself from his restraints and alert a building security guard, who then called 911 at about 12:50 p.m. Officers from the police department's emergency services unit arrived on the scene shortly afterward, barging into the building wearing shields and helmets and carrying sledgehammers and high-powered rifles, the Times reported.
Several tenants of the building told the Times that the building had installed a new security system six years ago that included color video surveillance cameras at all entry points, elevators, hallways and other common areas.
"Every person entering this building is identified," Joseph Weinfeld, a jewelry wholesaler with offices in the building, told the newspaper. "All the visitors, tenants, deliverymen?security knows who they are and where they're going. Or at least they're supposed to."