Burglar seen on video smashes H.B. store window and takes $6,000 in jewels

Police are looking for a burglar seen on video smashing a window to enter a Huntington Beach jewelry store and taking $6,000 worth of merchandise early Christmas morning.

Owners of Majesta M’s A-Z Jewelry Supply, at 6991 Warner Ave., told authorities that the thief made off with two amethyst geode cathedrals weighing about 50 pounds each.

The stones are “one of a kind,” owners Jeff and Majesta Vaughn told KCBS-TV/2.

The incident occurred at about 5:20 a.m. and was originally reported as vandalism, said Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt. A few days later, the owners reviewed security footage and learned that items had been stolen.

In a surveillance video posted on A-Z Jewelry Supply’s Facebook page, a vehicle is seen arriving outside the business and a person wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt gets out of the driver’s side. The thief smashes a store window with a sledgehammer and runs into the shop. Seconds later, the person is seen rushing out with the two geodes.

Detectives are studying the footage for leads, Marlatt said.

Jeff Vaughn told officers that a man and a woman had visited the store a few days before the burglary to look at the stones.

The man “was very diligent about those two pieces,” Vaughn told Channel 2. “He wanted to know weight. He wanted to know size. He wanted to know value. I thought he was trying to impress his girl with some fancy Christmas presents.”

Marlatt said it’s hard to tell whether the visitors may be linked to the burglary.

The thief’s vehicle was a black extended-cab truck with chrome rims and oversize tires, Marlatt said.

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Nuran Alteir is a contributor to Times Community News.

Twitter: @whatnuransaid