Burglar steals $260,000 worth of jewelry from local business

Medford, Ore.- Police are investigating after a burglar stole $260,000 worth of merchandise from a local business.

“I think he was watching our place because when he did enter the building he entered the building backward,” Peter Schulzke, Southern Oregon Pawn owner said.

The burglary happened around 3:00 in the morning Monday.

“He basically pried them open, he had a duffel bag, he took the tray, and the jewelry all together with the tags on it, threw it in the duffel bag and then he left,” Schulzke said.

Schulzke said the incident only took ten minutes. “It was mostly colored stones and diamonds.”

Schulzke is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

While the store does have a dozen security cameras in and around the building, they aren’t able to identify the suspect clearly.

“He had a hoodie, we believe he had a mask on, and he was wearing gloves,” Schulzke said.

Schulzke thinks the only reason the burglar was able to get away was because the store’s alarm system failed to go off.

“It was set but a few pieces weren’t working because if it did work, he would have not gotten away with all that stuff,” said Schulzke.

Not only is Schulzke working with the alarm company, he’s also scanning the internet to see if his merchandise pops up.

“What we did first was we went through leads online with the MPD so its basically going to be dispatched to all the either pawn shops, second-hand shops or jewelry that buy or sell any coins,” said he.

In the meantime, he’s hoping the reward will help Medford police catch the criminal.

“I just want to catch the guy, I just want to catch the guy, this is terrible,” he said.

The Medford Police Department is investigating. If you have any information you are asked to call police.

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