SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – Over $1 million in high end jewelry was stolen from a store inside Woodfield Mall last week.
According to Schaumburg police, the suspects cut through drywall to get inside Marquise Jewelers, and the owners told WGN the incident was like a scene out of a movie.
“Whole store was wiped out. There was nothing left in our store,” owner Shahzad Malik said.
“This is the safety for my family. This is the safety for my husband at this point. These guys were watching us for months,” added owner Asma Anwar.
Police said during the overnight hours of Thursday, Aug. 1, at least six people went into the store by cutting through drywall from a vacant unit next door. They also covered surveillance cameras to avoid being recorded.
The next day, the owners arrived at the store and discovered what had happened.
“It was $1.5 million worth of merchandise taken from our location. There’s nothing left,” Malik said. “It was gold, diamonds, all high end jewelry.”
The owners also noticed that the suspects did not break any glass to get their hands on the jewelry, adding they are concerned over safety and security inside the mall during overnight hours.
“We’re not a corporation that can recover that easily from what was taken from us,” Anwar said. “What I am trying to do is I am trying to prevent it from happening to other people. We worked day and night for this for 13 years. We still have active locations inside the mall.”
“They need to protect us more. We’ve been loyal tenants paying rent for 13 years in this place, and we need answers,” Malik added.
The owners said they are in the early stages of working with their insurance company and are asking anyone with information to reach out to police.
“We just need the help from our community at this time,” Anwar said.
Schaumburg police said they are reviewing surveillance video from other sources inside the mall.
WGN also reached out to Woodfield Mall for comment and a representative asked we instead contact the Schaumburg Police Department.