Thieves steal $100,000 worth of rings from Geelong jewellery store — and no one noticed
IT WAS the Geelong jewellery theft pulled off in broad daylight that the Ocean’s 11 crew would have admired for its audacity and execution — and the brazen perpetrators have never been found.
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It was the Geelong jewellery theft pulled off in broad daylight the Ocean’s 11 crew would have admired for its audacity and execution.
Around 3.30pm on January 7, 2009, management at Thomas Jewellers in Geelong CBD made a shocking discovery: $100,000 worth of rings were missing.
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How the robbery happened was initially the biggest mystery. The valuable inventory was there in the morning and had been sighted as late as 1.20pm.
There was no dramatic smash and grab. No violence of any kind marked what had been an ordinary Wednesday at the Moorabool St business. The theft had taken place without staff noticing anything amiss.
A review of security tapes helped police pinpoint the likely suspects.
Vision from the front of the jeweller at 1.15pm showed four people — three men and a woman — entering the store separately but within seconds of each other.
The men each carried black satchels, while the woman wore a black backpack.
Police believe the four were known to each other and were working as a professional crew, with each performing a specific role during the robbery.
No footage of the theft taking place exists because the store was still in the process of installing cameras inside the business, but the most likely scenario involved two of the suspects distracting staff while the third kept watch, and the fourth stole a tray of 60 rings from an unlocked safe behind the counter.
The group then left the store at about 1.30pm before splitting up and blending in with the rest of the city’s foot traffic. Their haul included a three-carat diamond solitaire, two two-carat diamond rings and 12 one-carat diamond solitaires. The most expensive ring was valued at $20,000.
To describe the theft as brazen would be an understatement. It was executed with a high level of precision and planning, at a time of day when one mistake would have meant almost certain arrest.
The robbery was big news in town. Geelong residents hadn’t seen anything like it in living memory. The following day’s Geelong Advertiser carried the front page headline “Help us solve diamond heist”.
Stills from the security footage were included in the coverage, highlighting the four people police believed responsible.
But despite public appeals for information, the thieves were never identified and the robbery remains unsolved.
Thomas Jewellers announced the closure of its Moorabool St store in late 2017 after operating from the site for almost 40 years.
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