Menashe and Sons Jewelers in the heart of the West Seattle Junction at 4532 California Ave. was robbed on Thursday around noon by a group of four masked and gloved men. Armed with bear spray and tasers the group smashed through the controlled entrance with hammers and forced all the employees to the floor. "They knew exactly where to go and what to take," an employee said, "they smashed in cases and took gold, emeralds and Rolex watches." No one was hurt in the robbery.

VIDEO OF THE BREAK IN BELOW

It appeared to employees as if the business had been "cased" the day before and security footage is being reviewed now of the previous day and the incident itself. An employee said that the day before a person was walking through the store, apparently live streaming the contents of the cases and the family was told this might be a criminal enterprise from the east coast who operates in this manner. Police on the scene said they responded very swiftly to the call in under two minutes but the perpetrators had gotten away by the time they arrived. The thieves left through the front door and appeared to escape in a gray Subaru. 

The store employees are devastated by the loss of one particularly expensive necklace and several notaable Rolex watches.The losses while not completely assessed are thought to be approaching two million dollars.

According to the police report, “one of the glass jewelry displays contained 700-800k in Rolex watches, another contained an emerald necklace valued at $125k and a platinum diamond. Two other display cases contained a large amount of gold jewelry.”

The store is now in the process of being secured and they will be closed tomorrow and through the weekend possibly opening next Tuesday.