Gang robs jewelry store

JAKARTA (JP): A gang of armed thugs robbed a jewelry store in Plaza Senayan shopping center in South Jakarta on Sunday evening, a witness said.

Budi Santoso, an on-duty security guard, said all the four robbers wore dark hats to cover their faces. "One of them carried a crowbar," Budi added.

He said the robbers hit the Benteng Jewelry store at 6:40 p.m.

"They used the crowbar to break the glass of the windows and display tables," Budi said, adding that he alerted his colleagues who later called the police.

Budi told reporters the robbers grabbed all the jewels and put them into a black bag during their fifteen minute operation.

"They left the building and crossed the road. It appeared that there was another man waiting in a car at the other end of the street," he said.

The thugs, Budi added, shot five times at security guards and nearby people who ran after them. "They got into a Daihatsu Carry van, heading to Jl. Palmerah. I could not memorize the car's police registration number because they had taken it off," he said.

Central Jakarta police detective chief Capt. Hendra Suhartiyono said that police were still investigating the case and that they had not yet identified the weapons they used and the total material loss of the robbery.

The police found a black shoe that belonged to one of the robbers, two crowbars in the store and three projectiles. (06)