VIDEO: FBI Joins Wall Police On Trail Of Jewelry Thief

The FBI has joined investigators from the Wall Township and Old Bridge Police departments on two old jewelry heists the federal authorities believe have ties to vehicle thefts in New York.

Wall Police, investigating a 2009 robbery at Ballew Jewelers in the Brook 35 Shopping Center on Route 35 near Sea Girt Ave., put out a call other agencies that might have had a similar robbery. 

One did. A 2007 heist in Old Bridge fit the same description.

In both cases, the armed robber wore a clear mask, gardening-type gloves, lanyard around his neck and a sweatshirt. The robber also arrived and left in a box truck and demanded very specific jewelry. In both cases, the heist took fewer than three minutes, police said.

Authorities are not saying what kind of jewelry was stolen in either heist or how much it was worth, other than to say it was “substantial.’’

The FBI now believes the box trucks were stolen in New York by the same jewel thief, making the crimes a federal concern.

The agencies on Thursday jointly released an extensive collection of surveillance photos and video (attached to this story) of both jewelry store robberies, along with footage of what authorities believe is the same man in Staten Island stealing a truck used in one heists.

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Anyone with information is asked to call the Wall Township Police Department at (732) 449-4500, the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 280-4222 ext. 157, or the FBI at (973) 792-3000.

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Shortly before 7 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2009 a masked man walked into Ballew Jewelers and pointed a silver, semiautomatic handgun at two employees. He ordered both to the back of the store and demanded very specific jewelry, police said.

The robber put the jewelry into an unmarked brown paper shopping bag and calmly walked out of the store. The employees were unharmed. The entire robbery, which took fewer than three minutes, was caught on surveillance cameras, police said.

Ballew Jewelers sustained “substantial financial losses’’ from the robbery, police said.

Reviewing those tapes, Wall Police noticed that the robber arrived lone in a white box truck. He parked near a small, dark-colored car, which pulled away just as the robber was about to leave the store, police said.

The box truck – a U-Haul with graffiti on the sides – was abandoned at the strip mall at 2100 Route 35, at Ocean Road. It was located the next day. The truck had been reported stolen by Etna Motors, a rental company at 1264 Castleton Ave., Staten Island, New York, police said.

The robber is described as a white male with stocky build, about 5’10’’ and wore a hooded jacket or sweatshirt with a camouflage pattern. He may have had a two-way radio with him during the robbery. He also wore keys on a lanyard around his neck. The mask was either clear or tan-colored and the robber walked with an unusual gait, possibly the result of an injury or chronic condition, police said.

Police were unable to get fingerprints because the robber wore gardening-type gloves, either gray or light blue in color. He appeared to be right handed, police said.

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Nearly two years earlier, a jewelry store in Old Bridge was robbed in much the same way, police said.

Around 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2007, a masked and armed man entered a jewelry store on Route 9. From his waistband, he produced a black, semiautomatic handgun with silver near the grips and ordered two employees to lie on the floor, police said.

“Your family doesn’t want to lose you,’’ the robber said.

He demanded a key to the display cases from the employees, after fumbling to open one. Still unable to open it, he demanded an employee open it for him. Together they emptied four display cases into an orange bag, police said.

The employees said they heard a car leave the store’s parking lot at a high rate of speed before the robber left and one reported hearing a two-way radio while helping to empty the display cases, police said.

The man was described as 5’9’’ to 5’10’’, 180-200 lbs, wearing an orange cap with an “S’’ on the front, a plastic clear or tan mask, a gray zip-up jacket with black sections and stripes on the shoulders and sides, gray or light blue gardening gloves and a lanyard around his neck which held what appeared to be a stop watch, police said.

Three days later, a Budget rental truck was found at 3500 Route 9 South. Some of the items, police are not saying which, stolen from the jewelry store, were found near the driver’s side door of the truck, police said.

The truck had been reported stolen from 1317 Castleton Ave., Staten Island – about a block away from where the U-Haul used in the Ballew heist was stolen, police said.

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Wall Police, investigating the Ballew robbery, attended a police conference in Jan. 2010 and alerted the FBI’s Red Bank Office to the two robberies and the connection to the New York vehicle thefts. The FBI then joined the investigation, since the four crimes were committed in two states, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Wall Township Police Department at (732) 449-4500, the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 280-4222 ext. 157, or the FBI at (973) 792-3000.