Men Dressed as Construction Workers Burglarize Jeweler’s Home

These images provided by the New York Police Department show, at left, the man who drove the getaway car in the Oct. 16 burglary and one of the two men who entered the home dressed as construction workers. (Photo courtesy of NYPD)

New York—The New York Police Department is looking for three men who stole a safe and jewelry from the home of a jeweler in Queens, New York, last month.

According to the NYPD, the burglary happened Oct. 16 at about 2:30 p.m. at the home in the borough’s Jamaica Hills neighborhood.

Three men forced their way into house via the back door.

Once inside, they removed a safe and jewelry that the NYPD said is valued at approximately $3.2 million.

In an interview with ABC7NY, the jeweler’s 24-year-old daughter said the safe contained family heirlooms, some of which were custom pieces the jeweler made for his wife. 

The same jeweler also was the victim of a smash-and-grab robbery at his store in December 2024, PIX11 reported.

Another image shared by the New York Police Department shows one of the suspects without his hard hat or protective eyewear. (Photo courtesy of NYPD)

After loading the safe into the trunk of the car, the suspects fled eastbound on 84th Drive in a blue Hyundai Elantra.

Video shared by the NYPD and posted on the NYPD Crime Stoppers’ X account shows that two of the men were disguised as construction workers. 

They both are wearing neon yellow vests, white hard hats, and black backpacks, while one of them is carrying what appears to be a white ladder. 

The video shows the third man, dressed in a white hoodie and black sweatpants, driving the getaway car. 

He backs the car into the driveway and the men dressed like construction workers get in the backseat before the car speeds off. 

Criminals dressing as construction workers to rob jewelers, their stores, or their homes is not uncommon.

Earlier this year, New York City retailer Moshe Haimoff, known as “The Watch King” on Instagram, was robbed outside his home, also in Queens, by two individuals in construction outfits.

In 2023, five men were charged in connection with two New York City jewelry store robberies; the men accused of carrying out the crimes wore construction vests in both robberies.

Earlier this year, in an interview about store security on holiday weekends, Jewelers’ Security Alliance Executive Vice President Scott Guginsky said in 2024, JSA received reports of 20 incidents in which burglars dressed as members of a construction crew while targeting jewelry stores in malls and shopping centers, up from one incident in 2023.

“If there are construction workers and there is no construction going on, that should be a red flag,” he said.

The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the Oct. 16 Queens burglary to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips also can be submitted online or to the Crime Stoppers X account, @NYPDTips.