STATEN ISLAND (PIX11) — You could say timing worked to the burglars’ advantage. While everyone was out of the building for the Memorial Day holiday, they slipped into a watch dealer’s office in Staten Island and slipped out with $2.5 million worth of exclusive watches and $160,000 in cash.
Surveillance video reveals the brazen nighttime break-in to the company Wrist Watcher, located on the third floor of a building in a strip mall in the Tottenville section of Staten Island around 10:30 p.m., according to the NYPD.
According to the official police report, the team of five burglars went through the unlocked front door of the building and made their way to the third floor, where they forced the door to the offices open.
Workers at the scene claim they made their way into the building by breaking through a wall in an abandoned catering hall one floor below, climbing the steps and entering an unlocked office, then, as damage shows, forced their way into the office where a safe was located, police said.
Surveillance video shows the masked burglars dressed in black, with tools in hand, using a crowbar to make their way into the office, and minutes later, when the video cuts out, wheeling out the safe and its valuable contents.
“They knew what they were doing. They carried out a 4000-pound safe. It’s hard to believe they got away with it,” Nick Tarulli, the building superintendent, told PIX 11 News.
There were no alarms, perhaps because the burglars had broken into the electronics closet and clipped all the wires.
“They shot the breakers off, they shut the lights off, shut the system down, but there was a backup they didn’t know…that’s how we got the video,” said Tarulli.
PIX11 News observed several surveillance cameras, but police only released a limited view.
The burglars appeared to know the company which buys and sells high-end watches, including Rolex and Patek Philippe.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).