Tempe jewelry store robbery caught on camera

TEMPE, Ariz. (FOX 10) - Police say suspects broke into a Valley jewelry store and ransacked the business, getting away with jewelry and other priceless items.

Employees say it happened shortly before 5 a.m. on Monday when the suspect broke in through a front window and it was all caught on camera.

"They were looking at all of our designer pieces," said Jake Debs, assistant manager of Elite Jewelry.

Debs gave us a look at the surveillance footage from Monday morning.

"They took their time for the most part," he said.

The two suspects broke into Elite Jewelry on Scottsdale Road, near the Loop 202, and broke glass cases and grabbed priceless items, rings, watches and broaches.

"They actually tried going back out the window they broke through and the people next door had their guns and confronted them with their weapons," Debs said. "You can see on the video they ran back inside."

This is the first time anything like this has happened here. Debs doesn't think the store was targeted because other nearby businesses were hit too.

He hopes to recover the stolen items but says the most difficult thing to deal with is how his family was victimized.

"We're a small family-owned, family-operated... it sucks when someone comes in and takes what you worked hard for," he said.

If you have any information, you're asked to call Tempe police.