Three men stole rings and necklaces valued at about 75 million yen from high-end jewelry Harry Winston's store in Tokyo's Omotesando Hills on Friday night.
According to police, the robbery occurred at around 8 p.m. The front door is usually kept locked and opened by a male security guard to let customers in, Fuji TV reported. Police said the three men -- described as being Caucasian -- pretended to be customers and that as soon as they all were inside the store, one of them started beating up the 47-year-old security guard.
The other two then smashed glass showcases with hammers and stole about 40 rings and necklaces and fled. Two of the men were wearing white face masks, police said.
No customers were injured in the robbery which only took about three minutes, police said, adding they examining store surveillance camera footage to try and identify the men.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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gokai_wo_maneku
You have to expect that among the ever increasing millions of tourists, there will be a few bad apples. I'm sure that they weren't English teachers.
smartacus
The TV news this morning said they were not well dressed and that one of the men had a rucksack. You'd think a posh store like Harry Winston would only see customers by appointment and three guys wearing face masks would hardly be worth letting in.
In the old days, thieves had more class. A well-dressed man and woman would come in and steal items.
One thing about security guards I have noticed in Japanese stores - they look nice and official in their uniforms but are completely unprepared for a robbery attempt. I think their presence is a throwback to the good old days where a person in a uniform was a figure to respect and deter any untoward behavior. How times have changed.
I wonder how much a fence will give them for the 75 million in stolen items.
Noble713
@Brainiac
There's a LOT of things about Japan that are essentially an inexpensive placebo effect meant to placate the masses of rather-unaware Japanese. And it largely works.
On a side note, I read the headline thinking "PLEASE don't be gaijin....please don't be gaijin" got to the "described as Caucasian" part....DAMMIT! Because you know we will be treated like we are all collectively guilty any time a foreigner does something wrong here.
M3M3M3
Just last month the police in Tokyo training for precisely this scenario. Unfortunately, it seems like the theives here decided to run away with the loot, not stick around for a massive street brawl with police (as the training anticipated).
https://youtu.be/InY88UamAjI
WA4TKG
Bah, ha, hah, ha...yes " Noble 713 ", because as we all know, JAPANESE NEVER commit any CRIMES...it's all the FOREIGNERS that are in the country...it COULDN'T be Japanese....lol.
Goodlucktoyou
I've actually witnessd 4 shopliftings here. One was the guy from the Indian restaurant, the other three were...Japanese senior citizens. I didn't bother reporting it however, my experiences of handing in wallets or money I found have had me staying in the Koran for nearly an hour, filling in forms and being asked a million questions. Just look the other way.
some14some
a kind of "Repeat" crime at the jewelry/diamond shops in Japan almost every year.
Polar Cities
Caucasians? That is a huge category of nationalities. We shall "see."
G.MAL.O.Q
Probably the same Eastern European crew that has been hitting jewelry stores around the globe. Catch them and break their teeth, they give a bad rep' to the rest of us.
Patric Spohn
Harry Winston jewelry fetches roughly 10 times more in China, so I'd rather suspect not Caucasians ;)
IfeelImust
Has to have been Caucasians, they were wearing white face masks after all.
Wc626
3 of them? Sounds like a trademark Lupin the 3rd stick-up.
Bernd Laurent
The infamous pink panther crime group from the Balkans again? Should be easy to identify with the fingerprints and pictures taken at airport immigration.
misunderstood
Wait don't the security guards carry knives what is the purpose of a security guard when he can't defend himself? Why would the security guard let three men in wearing mask? This is a poorly written article. If the robbers had on mask how do they know they were Caucasian. They could have simply painted their faces white and I'm sure these criminals wore gloves everyone who enter Japan is finger printed if they didn't wear gloves they would have to be some of the dumbest criminals out there! I read that they were Russian gang members making their way back out of the country through Sapporo.
Chop Chop
They are probably Romanians or East European gang members.
Polar Cities
Most likely citizens of an eastern European nation. We will know when they are caught, if ever they are nabbed.
commanteer
Considering the wild mark-ups on gems, that 75 million retail price is mostly for insurance purposes. The thieves will find buyers, but you can bet they will get a fraction of 75 million. I don't know how fencing works, but I'd be surprised if they got more than 10% of that.
Sassenach
I can understand some angst about the announcement that the suspects are Caucasians, however, I do not understand the posts dismissing it as even a strong possibility given eyewitness accounts. Yes, even with a gauze faux surgical mask on, the difference between Asians, Caucasians and Blacks is readily apparent. Look on the bright side: at least its not a murder. This will be forgotten quickly.
Marilita Fabie-Fujisawa
I call this extremes! The most safest country in the world and yet they can rob Harry Winston jewelry!!
SHIRAISHI-Kazuko
Why are the comments always worthless drivel. Someone always find an aspect of every story to focus on then bash Japan. I get it for the racism cases etc but come on a jewelry heist? They were white, that's a fact not a personal attack. Why not intelligent posts, constructive conversation, or interesting debate?
KevinMcgue
This is a confusing detail. Does that mean they were wearing masks to make themselves appear caucasian? Or were they something like opaque Guy Fawkes masks, and their exposed necks and hands gave the appearance of being caucasian? This bigger question is, if they were wearing masks, why did the security guard let them in? I have walked by the store several times and it seems the security guard has to unlock the door for each group of customers.
shonanbb
Just take a vacation and take a few with you, sell to your local jeweler, and pay for you trip.
misunderstood
KevinMcgue I asked the same questions you asked and got thumbed down!! Makes me wonder about the thumbster logical thinking!