Sledgehammer robbers hit upscale NJ store during business hours

RED BANK — An armed security guard helped foil a daylight robbery of a jewelry store by two individuals carrying sledgehammers.

Video  posted by Red Bank Green shows two men dressed in gray pants, gray shirts and black caps run the door of Leonardo Jewelers. They turn around as a security guard comes out and he chases them down Front Street toward Water Street.

Police Capt. Mike Frazee told Red Bank Green that the robbers got into a Dodge Durango SRT and drove away.  None of the customers or employees inside the store were hurt, according to Frazee.

Frazee on Wednesday did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for more information.

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Violent jewelry store robberies

A number of jewelry stores around New Jersey have been violently robbed in 2024 including some multiple times.

In the most recent robbery someone walked up to a jewelry kiosk at the Hudson Mall in Jersey City, smashed the glass display case and took an estimate $12,000 to $15,000 worth of inventory, according to a News 12 New Jersey report.

Three hooded thieves broke into Queen May Jewelry in Cape May on May 5 according to video posted by the store. They broke the glass front door, climbed inside and went to work taking items back outside as the clip ended.

Carolines Luxuaries located across from the Haddonfield police department was broken into twice earlier this year by burglars who busted out a front window. During a robbery in May the store's owners told 6 ABC Action News that 70 items, some valued at $10,000 each, were stolen in less than five minutes.

The owners of Venzio Jewelers in the Ocean County Mall in Toms River said $1 million worth of merchandise was taken by thieves who entered the store by cutting a hole in the wall from an adjacent empty store.