Thieves Caught on Camera at Graham Jewelers in Wayzata

Employees at Graham Jewelers in Wayzata spent Wednesday picking up the pieces after a group of thieves broke in overnight.

Surveillance cameras captured what appears to be four men smashing through display cases at the store on East Lake Street in Downtown Wayzata.

"It's amazing how much how fast your world can change. This is a game changer for us, for sure," said Chris Graham, owner of Graham Jewelers.

Thieves broke through a window around 3 a.m. and shattered 24 feet of glass cases. Graham says they stole about 200 pieces including engagement rings, diamond earrings and gold jewelry.

"In a fire in a house, the soot never goes away, it seems like these glass shards are never going to go away. There's glass everywhere," Graham said.

"This isn't the first time they've ever done it before. They know that the alarm company is going to get called they know that the police has a certain amount of response time," said Officer Robert Vanderheiden with the Wayzata Police Department.

The thieves were in an out of the store in about two minutes. Police arrived two and a half minutes after the alarm sounded.

"It was very close, very close. They have no idea how lucky they were," Vanderheiden said.

Police believe the crime may be connected to both a November break-in at another jewelry store in Wayzata and a break-in at a jewelry store in Anoka last week.

Graham Jewelers was closed Wednesday while employees counted inventory. They expect to open again Thursday.