Thief Steals $100K In Gems From Jewelry Store

He wore a mask and brought his crowbar. He also got caught on tape stealing handfuls of jewelry.Police in Cottage Grove, Minn. hope newly released surveillance tape will lead to clues in the heist, which employees estimate cost the jewelry store $100,000."Colored stones ... diamond rings, gold bands, gold chains," said Christine Selvig, describing a long list of what was stolen, though she admits it's difficult to put a number on the emotional damage.

"We're a small store here in Cottage Grove. The damage he did -- it took two years of struggle to get where we're at today."On tape, the crook is seen working very fast, using his crowbar and his big green storage bin. Authorities think he may have known an alarm had already alerted police to the crime in progress, so he grabbed the jewels in a flash.The thief was able to empty three cases in less than one minute."There he is rummaging through," said Christine's husband Chad as he reviewed their store's surveillance video.The Selvigs hope that showing pictures of unique items stolen -- including many unique, custom-made engagement rings -- will lead to the masked man if he tries to sell the items intact.

"I had a customer come in here last Friday looking for ladies' and mens' diamond rings and I started crying, 'I don't know what to show you,'" said Christine Selvig.Ironically, one of the rings swiped bore the inscriptions: "What would Jesus do?"Reviewing the surveillance tape is now the best way to track down the suspect and the precious jewels that were lost.

The suspect wore a dark blue sweatshirt with white writing on the sleeves. He also wore yellow rubber gloves.If you have any information in the case, please call Cottage Grove Police at (651) 458-6012.