Police Release Images Of Chinatown Jewelry Heist Suspects

CHINATOWN, NY — Police released images of four suspects in a brazen Chinatown jewelry heist where a gun-toting robber fired a shot inside the store before making off with 123 pieces of jewelry, authorities said.

The thieves entered the Lucky Diamond jewel store on the Bowery near Hester Street at about 2:15 p.m. One of the men quickly pulled out a gun as his accomplice hopped the store's counter and franticly shoved 123 pieces of gold, diamonds and sapphires worth at least $100,000 into a bag, police said.

Two other men acted as lookouts on Bowery during the robbery.

A store employee managed to remotely lock the shop's glass front door. After discovering the locked door, the gunman fired a round into the glass and his partner in crime kicked the shattered door down.

Both men bolted out of the store and jumped into a light colored BMW sedan and headed to Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge.

One of the lookouts ran south on Bowery and the other hopped into a dark colored Nissan Maxima and drove north on the Bowery.

No injuries were reported during the incident. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Photos courtesy of NYPD