$20,000 of gold jewelry stolen in scheme at Novi store on camera

FOX 2 (WJBK) - A group of thieves walked away with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from a Novi store.

The crime was caught on camera but that did little to deter the criminals from running a scheme at Gold Buy and Jewelry on Grand River in Novi.

"They didn’t look like criminals that they were well dressed, and then they had their scheme planned out," said Joe Haddad, the owner. "They were asking for some things on the bottom shelf."

Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, he says a couple walked into his store and started talking with the clerk.

"They blocked the vision of my employee," Haddad said.

Another three people soon came in. all of this recorded on security cameras.

"Five people here at once, and that was their strategy," he said.

While the sole employee was preoccupied, another person went for the jewelry.

"They slid the showcase open and managed to take a full tray of diamond and gold rings," he said.

In total, the tray of rings was worth about $20,000.

"They are good at what they do," Haddad said.

And before they even knew what happened…

"The one gentleman asked what’s my ring size?" he said. "As we turned around to grab the ring sizer, he basically got thrown off and they were gone."

The owner of the pawnshop says these thieves clearly knew what they were doing. They were in and out in a matter of 10 minutes.

Once they got outside the store into the parking lot they simply walked away, he is unclear if they got into a vehicle. Police are still investigating.

Haddad says it was wasnt until much later, when they were closing for the day that they figured out they fell victim..

"He noticed the tray was empty there, and he said 'Oh my God, they took the tray,'" Haddad said.

Novi police are hoping you recognize the people in the video and give them a call at (248) 348-7100.