County police are asking the public to help them find the two men who robbed a Crofton jewelry store Nov. 16 and got away with diamonds valued at $220,000.
Investigators released photos yesterday of the thiefs taken by a surveillance camera inside Parisi Jewelers in the 1100 block of Route 3 North.
Both are described as black males. One is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. He appears to be in his mid-20s, wears eyeglasses and has a rough complexion. The photos and witnesses indicate he was wearing a Dallas Cowboys athletic cap, a black nylon jacket and light-blue jeans, police said.
The second man is 6 feet tall and weighs about 190 pounds. He appears to be in his mid-30s. The day of the robbery he had a beard and was wearing an Oakland Athletics baseball cap and a brown leather jacket, police said.
The robbers stole 94 diamond rings and about the same number of loose diamonds. They also took a Rolex watch from 31-year-old Kenneth Parisi after he was unable to open a display case of Rolex watches because the lock stuck, police said.
Mr. Parisi told police that the robbers visited his store twice the day of the robbery. They came in about 2:30 p.m. and looked at diamond bracelets and Rolex watches for about 10 minutes and then left.
About 5:30 p.m., they returned and said they wanted to look at several items. One man carried a white plastic bag and pretended to fill out a credit application at the watch counter while Amy Parisi, Mr. Parisi's wife, helped the other at a counter on the other side of the room, police said.
The man Mrs. Parisi was assisting placed a pizza box on top of the counter with a note on it. Mrs. Parisi told police the note had six lines of information but the only word she noticed was "robbery."
When she asked the man if he was serious, he pulled out a small handgun and said: "This is a robbery. Open your case. Everything in the bag."
The gunman forced Mrs. Parisi to open the diamond case while the other went to a back office and held a female employee at bay with a knife. The robber with the knife then forced Mrs. Parisi and the other woman into a back storage room while the other ordered Mr. Parisi to open the Rolex watch display case. They forced him into the storage room after they took his watch.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Todd Young at 222-3473.