By Nicholas Bender
Burglars broke into a local diamond store early Thursday morning, breaking a window and smashing jewelry cases before making off with nearly $3,000 worth of merchandise, the store owner said.
The break-in occurred at Di Lusso, a jewelry store located at 1218 N. 900 East in Provo, across from the Creamery on Ninth. The robbers entered the store by breaking through a window on the south side of the building, finally managing to penetrate the security laminate on the glass after several unsuccessful blows to the glass door. They escaped with about $2,000 worth of Citizen watches and several show-model alloy rings. The gold rings, loose diamonds and other more expensive jewelry were locked away in the store safe.
Store owner Jason Richards said he felt sick when he heard the news. He said the property damage is especially frustrating.
'Our cases are a lot more expensive than what they took,' Richards said. 'This is my life-long dream, and it''s like somebody reached into my dream and smashed it up a little bit.'
Provo police responded after someone reported the shattered glass and broken window. A detective arrived on the scene at 9 a.m.
'We don''t have any suspects, but we have leads,' said Detective H. Bean. 'The type of burglary that took place has been fairly common lately - a smash and grab. It''s a real quick ''grab what you can and leave.'' They didn''t spend a lot of time inside.'
Bean said he thinks at least two people were involved. He also said the perpetrators must have been prepared for the burglary with heavy clothing and gloves, allowing them to crawl through the shards of glass on the broken window.
Matt Hemby, a BYU student and neighbor who lives in a house behind the jewelry store, said he heard several bangs sometime between 2 and 3 a.m.
'It just kind of sounded like gunshots to me,' he said. 'But I wasn''t sure. I just didn''t think that anything like this would happen here.'
Despite the damage, Richards and his manufacturing partner, Carson Lee, said they won''t let the break-in slow them down. They plan to open the store as usual Friday morning.
'We''re going to get it all cleaned up and get people over to fix the glass,' Richards said. 'We''re not going to miss a beat other than one day. I mean, we''re in the Christmas season.'
'We''re going to forge ahead,' Lee added.
Di Lusso has been opened for about six months.