A brazen daytime heist has rattled downtown Morristown, New Jersey, after a group of masked thieves stormed a luxury handbag and jewelry boutique and cleaned out its shelves in a matter of seconds. The raid, captured on video, unfolded so quickly that stunned customers barely had time to react before the intruders were gone.
The store, tucked onto a small one-way street in the heart of downtown, was just about to close on Sunday when the crime began. At least five people wearing masks pushed their way inside, and by the owner's account the whole thing was over in roughly 15 seconds, the group grabbing as much as they could carry before rushing back out.
What they took was substantial. About 32 designer bags, worth an estimated $40,000, were carried out in armfuls, including high-end labels such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Celine. Two of the most expensive pieces taken were Chanel bags, prized items that helped push the value of the haul into the tens of thousands of dollars.
The scene inside was frightening. Customers were still in the shop when the thieves burst in, and the owner said the group aggressively told everyone to get out of the way as they swept the merchandise off the shelves. The sheer speed and boldness of the raid left those present shaken and the owner in a state of shock afterward.
The owner believes the store had been scouted in advance. He said two women wearing hats and sunglasses had come in the day before, and that something about them struck him as suspicious. One of them returned the following day, and minutes later the group ransacked the store, leading him to conclude the shop had been deliberately cased.
One unlikely defender tried to intervene. The owner's Italian Greyhound gave chase as the thieves fled and managed to catch up with one of the women before he called the dog back, worried she might be struck by a car in the street. Two vehicles were seen waiting outside the shop as the crime played out, and the group made their escape.
The owner described such crimes against high-end resale shops as increasingly common and deeply unsettling for small-business owners, and said retailers need to come together to figure out how to protect themselves. Downtown Morristown is generally regarded as a safe and welcoming district of shops and restaurants, and he said he intends to reopen as soon as he possibly can.