From the way the $350,000 jewelry heist in downtown Los Altos transpired, it seems as though the thieves must have gotten a script from an intricate crime novel or a Hollywood movie.
Sometime before 4:38 a.m. Sunday, a team of suspects pried open the door of Hordin's Bookkeeping & Income Tax Service and cut through a portion of a wall separating the tax accountant's office and Harold's Jewelry, 164 Main St.
The hole lined up exactly with the jeweler's safe.
Police Sgt. John Korges said the thieves used commercial metal cutters to peel open the safe and make off with at least $350,000 worth of loose stones, jewelry waiting for repair and display pieces. Cops showed up 14 minutes later only to find an empty jewelry store and no suspects.
Korges got a buzz at home at 5 a.m. alerting him that something major had gone down.
"This was a big deal,'' Korges said. "This level of sophistication is rarely seen in Santa Clara County. The labor and the time it took to evaluate the territory and make plans, this was very involved."
This was the third jewelry store burglary on Main Street since August, and police are open to the idea that they may be related. A jewelry store in Los Gatos was also robbed on Halloween. But police say the modus operandi of that "smash and grab" robbery doesn't appear to be connected to the Los Altos burglary because the Los Gatos store was robbed in broad daylight and occurred when the owner was working in the store.
Korges said crime lab technicians have already been on scene looking for clues, dusting for prints and trying to find anything that might lead them to the burglars. The store was closed at the time of the burglary, and no one was injured.
Harold's Jewelry is also typically closed on Monday, and the owner was not immediately available for comment. Korges said he talked to the owner shortly after the burglary, and he was "devastated."
Walking on Main Street, casual observers would not know that the heist had taken place. The cut wall can be seen only looking inside the office of Hordin's. Owner and tax accountant Nicholas Hordin said he was called Sunday and went to his office to find a 32-inch hole cut into the wall.
The burglars had moved a copy machine to give them room to "hack away at the wall. It looks like they took their time cutting," Hordin said, adding that he doesn't have an alarm, so the burglars could have been working for a long time with no one knowing.
Los Altos police ask anyone with information about the burglary to call Detective Wes Beveridge at 650-fuck-the- police!. They also ask that any customers who have photographs of their stolen jewels contact them to aid in the investigation.
