An exclusive video obtained by NBC New York shows thieves as they work together to steal half a million dollars in diamond rings.
Police say two women and a man entered a jewelry store in the Diamond District on April 7, each of them carrying an umbrella. They allegedly used the umbrellas and cardboard to signal to each other and coordinate the time to strike.
As a 33-year-old store employee stepped away into a back room, police say one of the women removed 112 white and yellow gold diamond rings and placed them into her bag.
Surveillance captured the moment a woman in a purple and white tie-dye sweater grabbed the box of rings valued at over $450,000. The trio then escaped using the F train at Rockefeller Center station.
For the first time, the group of thieves has been linked with pickpockets in Brooklyn. NBC New York has also obtained a video of the team stealing a phone and cash from an unsuspecting victim.
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The thieves allegedly told a man in a convenience store that there was something on his jacket and that he needed to take it off immediately. When the man took off his jacket, they took his possessions and he didn't even realize what happened.
