Smash-and-grab jewelry store burglary caught on camera

SAMMAMISH, Wash. — A burglar who smashed his way into a Sammamish jewelry store got away with tens of thousands of dollars in watches in a theft that was caught on surveillance video.

The video shows the burglar shattering a glass door with a hammer, ducking under a metal bar and entering Plateau Jewelers just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 26.

He went directly to the display case closest to the door, struggled with it, then snapped it free. He forced it back out the door and loaded it in the back of van, driven by a getaway driver.

The burglary took 20 seconds.

The owner of the jewelry store told police the stolen jewelry was worth more than $22,000.

"They would have had to have been in the store and knew exactly where everything was or staked the place out," said Michelle Holman, who works at a hair salon a few doors down.

Detectives released the video, hoping someone might recognize the man who investigators think is about 6 feet tall 200 pounds.

He was wearing gloves when he broke in, so there are no fingerprints.

KIRO