Video shows thieves smashing showcases, clearing out jewelry store on Devon Avenue

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A West Ridge neighborhood jeweler said his store on a very busy stretch of Devon Avenue recently.

The jeweler estimated that $300,000 in merchandise was lost.

Devon Avenue along Chicago's Little India section of West Ridge is filled with smalls shops and family-owned businesses—such as Darbar Jewelers, at 2632 W. Devon Ave.

At Darbar Jewelers—located in an area of particularly high foot traffic at Devon and Talman avenues across from Fresh Farms International Market grocery store, formerly the North Water Market—the display cases are now empty.

The shelves were cleaned out earlier this month by smash-and-grab thieves.

Surveillance video shows a crew of three men bashing through the locked door of the jewelry store and methodically smashing the display cases one by one. The cases were filled with expensive jewelry.

"He really didn't want those robbers to take his hard-earned money," said Ali Karim Parekh. "It's just empty, depressing, sad."

Parekh, son of store owner Saleem Parekh, helps out at Darbar Jewelers—which opened just last year. He said his dad's first instinct was to try to claw back the merchandise.

"My dad was trying to grab their hammer or try and protect his jewelry," Parekh said.

At one point in the video, the thief loses his grip on the hammer that he was using so smash open the showcases. Owner Saleem Parekh is seen trying unsuccessfully to grab the hammer.

"I held his hand," Saleem Parekh said.

A customer inside the shop recorded the chaos as it unfolded within minutes. The customer can repeatedly be heard saying, "God help us! God help us!"

"That was my biggest fear—them hurting my dad," said Ali Karim Parekh. "I know the jewelry is gone, but my dad is here. That is the biggest blessing."

In May, Zar Jewelers, right across the street at 2643 W. Devon Ave., was hit in a similar fashion, Ali Karim Parekh said he believes the same three people are responsible.

"Height wise, you know, mask wise, the way they dress up—there's a lot of similarities," he said.

Once Darbar Jewelers is able to restock, it plans to reopen. But the owners say they want increased police patrols, and accountability for the men responsible.

"We want our community to be more protected," Ali Karim Parekh said.