Miami-Dade authorities are on the lookout for a duo involved in a jewelry theft at the Midway Crossing Mall, previously known as the Mall of America. As NBC Miami reports, the incident was captured on surveillance footage on Tuesday, depicting a man snatching an $8,000 box of jewelry from a kiosk while an accomplice kept the salesperson occupied.
The surveillance video, which the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office has reviewed according to CBS News Miami, captures the man looking around before making several attempts to reach over the counter and grab the merchandise. While he succeeded in their act, a woman was distracting an employee, engaged on the other side of the kiosk.
Glamour, the targeted sales kiosk, has reportedly been hit twice in one week, with the second incident proving substantially costlier. "The value of everything they stole was $8,000," the manager of Glamour, who remained unnamed, told CBS News Miami. The theft has understandably rattled nearby businesses, with store owner Dorian Zarza expressing concern for the clear visibility of the man's face and the implication of such brazen criminality within their presumed safe commerce space.
Despite the disconcerting nature of the theft and its recorded evidence, security officials at the Midway Crossing Mall declined to release additional footage from other mall cameras. In a statement obtained by CBS News Miami, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office also declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation. The public, however, has been encouraged to aid the authorities by calling Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS with any relevant information, with assurances that tipsters can remain anonymous.
Local shoppers like Nina Hudson, who noted how no one noticed the theft in such an open mall, are left feeling troubled. "It's such an open mall, and no one saw it? It's very sad," Hudson told CBS News Miami.
