Police: Man Hid In Sears Store At Closing Time, Tried To Steal $830K In Jewelry

At closing time in any store, you want to make sure that no one is hiding out inside, planning to pull off a heist once all of the employees have left. That never really happens, though, right? A man in suburban Maryland is accused of hiding in a Sears, then smashing jewelry display cases with a hammer and stealing their contents.

Police say that the man had $830,000 worth of fine jewelry stuffed in what they describe as “a backpack purse that he had obtained from the Sears.”

The suspect set off a motion sensor alarm designed to detect, say, someone sneaking around the store after closing time to steal jewelry and “backpack purses.” That alarm summoned police, who reported that they saw the man trying to escape the store carrying the bag and concealing his face.

Let no one say that criminals aren’t resourceful, though: Instead of bringing his own hammer, police say that the failed burglar borrowed a tool from the hardware department in addition to the backpack that he’s accused of taking from the store. He left the hammer and the bag of jewelry behind while trying to escape.

The suspect is being held on two counts of commercial burglary and one count of theft.

This Sears store, at the White Oak Shopping Center in Montgomery County, is not on the list of stores slated to close in the coming months.