NL Jewelry Store Owners 'Fed Up,' Shaken After Another Break-In

NEW LENOX, IL — The owners of a New Lenox jewelry once again last week found themselves sweeping up the shattered glass of their display cases.

Gina and Bryan Blaha, of Cornerstone Jewelry in New Lenox, have had their business' front door smashed twice now, in burglaries just months apart. The first was in March, the second in the early morning hours of Oct. 14.

They've taken every precaution—the best security cameras, alarm system—but there they were, back to cleaning up the mess someone else made.

Police were called to the store, 1876 E. Lincoln Highway, just before 8 a.m. Oct. 14, but Gina Blaha said it was around 3 a.m. when a car backed up to the store, and a man took a sledgehammer to the door. He shattered display cases inside, making three trips in and out of the store, taking mostly prototypes worth very little, Blaha said. A second suspect sat waiting in a car with a covered license plate, and the two fled.

Blaha and her husband opened their store in New Lenox five years ago. They closed their first location in Palos Park in August, consolidating them into the New Lenox storefront.

"We’re pretty fed up with the fact that we consolidated our two stores into one and this is the second burglary at our New Lenox store since March, of THIS YEAR," Blaha shared on social media.

<< READ ALSO: Olympia Fields Man Charged In New Lenox Jewelry Store Burglary: NLPD >>

Blaha said they were excited for an opportunity to open in New Lenox, but are starting to wonder what other steps they'll need to take to protect their business.

"We never thought we’d have to consider installing burglary bars on our windows, but honestly, that’s the next step for us," Blaha told Patch, "because we don’t want this to happen again."

Blaha was quick to stress the efficiency of the New Lenox Police Department, noting that detectives in May nabbed two of the three suspects in the March burglary, with the arrest of an Oak Lawn man and a warrant out for a Calumet City man. Amarrion Ash, of Oak Lawn, was taken into custody June 9, and released Aug. 31, according to Will County Sheriff's records. Marquis Thomas, of Calumet City, was in custody in Cook County on unrelated charges, and was transferred to Will County. There, a pre-trial release motion was granted and the warrant was quashed. He was released from custody, New Lenox police said Tuesday.

The March break-in at Cornerstone was followed by another burglary in late-May, at Zembar Jewlers. There, suspects made off with an estimated $30,000 in items.

It's jarring and disappointing, Blaha said. She wants all to know the store's security camera takes crystal clear images.

"When small business owners, when we get broken into, it affects our sense of security, more than if a Walmart is broken into," she said.

Blaha said there was a failure in their alarm system the morning of Oct. 14; it did not alert authorities at the time of the break-in. Instead, Blaha and staff arrived that morning to find their business had been breached.

"We’re just thankful no one was injured," she said. "We call it a victimless crime, but small business owners are always the victim in crimes like this.

"... That’s our livelihood."

It was the second burglary at this location, Blaha said, but the third to their business overall. Open for almost 11 years before its closing in Aug. 2023, the Palos Park location had also been hit.

Blaha said she worries the store's reputation will suffer, with customers feeling as though their items aren't secure there.

"We need to continue to reassure our customers that we do take every single precaution to protect their items," Blaha said.

Every item is carefully logged, photographed and stored in immobile safes, she said.

"Nothing of our customers’ is ever compromised," Blaha said. "We don’t want them to think that their items aren't safe there.

"It’s safer at our store, than if they got broken into at home. Our customers are our number one priority, for keeping their belongings safe."

Another break-in is frustrating, Blaha said, but they're relieved it happened while no one was in the store and could have been injured.

"That’s just the nature of the beast," she said, knowing that any business can be targeted.

"It’s distressing, frustrating," she said. "It leads to financial losses for us. Not the jewelry that was stolen; we have to replace our door, the cases, again. We have insurance, but that’s not the point. We’re all as a family, as a team, in there in the morning, cleaning up all that glass, trying to service our customers at the same time."

Blaha said the break-in hasn't changed how they feel about the overall New Lenox community.

"We’re in this community, we don’t feel like crime is going to affect us, yet it has—twice," Blaha said. "New Lenox is a great community, we love it—the people, how much they support the small businesses. It’s just unfortunate that that’s happened to us twice.

"I hope it stops."