Thieves target area jewelry businesses

Gail Tarson, owner and operator of Diamonds Evermore on Main Street, said an early morning burglary attempt woke her from a dead sleep the morning of Aug. 30.

"Yeah, it definitely had my heart pumping," Tarson said.

Two Clovis jewelry stores were burglarized, and a third was the scene of an attempted break-in during a 24-hour period late last month, police said.

Keepsake Jewelry inside North Plains Mall was also broken into Thursday night. Store owner Khai Buong said thieves made off with over $10,000 worth of merchandise, smashing a window to gain entry into the store and breaking four jewelry cases.

Buong said his store has been in the mall for 20 years. This was the first time he's seen three burglaries in such a short amount of time. "I hope everything is settled," Buong said.

Diamonds Evermore and both Zales and JCPenney located inside the North Plains Mall were subject to property damage and vandalism in the early morning of Aug. 30-31, records show. Thieves successfully entered and stole an undisclosed amount of merchandise from the stores in the mall.

Tarson said she stopped an attempted break-in of her store at about 3:45 a.m. on Aug. 30 by pointing a gun at a would-be burglar. She lives at the location.

Tarson said the sound of glass shattering awoke her. She got out of bed to see what was happening and saw someone working to get in the front door, with significant damage to the glass. She flashed the lights to signal that someone was there, and they ran off. That's when Tarson phoned the police.

"Then I turned my lights back off because I don't like somebody being able to see what's going on in here if I can't see what's going on out there," she said.

About five minutes later, as she was reviewing security footage on her computer and getting it ready for the police, the subject returned to the front of the store and resumed their attempt to gain entry.

Tarson said she pulled out her handgun, walked to the door where the subject was striking a claw hammer against the laminated glass, and pointed the gun at the burglar, causing them to run away.

"I picked up the gun and just walked to the front door and put it in his face and just basically yelled at him, 'You got a gun in your face, is this what you want?' And he took off running," Tarson said.

This is the fourth attempted break-in of her store since she started the business in 2011, Tarson said. She believes jewelry stores like hers are targeted because jewelry is a high-value item that is small and easy to carry.

"They can get a lot of value in a small bag, so that's why I think they target jewelry," she said.

Reports show that when officers arrived, they canvased the area and found no suspects. No arrests had been made going into the weekend.

The following day, on Aug. 31, police were called to the North Plains Mall around 8 a.m., where workers informed them of damage to the property.

Police reports show someone broke out three windows on the mall's east side just inside the foyer sometime between 5 and 7 a.m.

The reports state that by the angle at which the glass was broken, it appeared someone may have stood in the parking lot and shot the windows out with a gun. Repair workers told officers on-scene the damage was well over $1,000.

Officers left the scene, but by 9 a.m., they returned when mall walkers found windows broken at JCPenney.

Police reports show the window in one of the doors where patrons can enter and exit the store through the mall was shattered. A store employee said she was not notified that the motion alarm was activated. When police entered the store, they set off the motion alarm, indicating that no one had entered. But, once inside the store, the officers found four jewelry cabinets smashed.

"I do know there was several items (taken from Zales and JCPenney)," said Deputy Police Chief Trevor Thron. He would not comment on the estimated value of the items stolen. Store managers and corporate spokespeople for both stores would also not comment on the total value of the items taken.

JCPenny Media Relations told the news in an email, "The safety of our customers and associates is extremely important to us. We are working closely with Clovis, NM police department on their investigation."

Thron said common sense leads police to believe the incidents at the three jewelry locations are related.

"It all happened within the same timeframe, all jewelry stores. More than likely, it's probably the same people or same person that did all three," he said.

Clovis police reported that the subject at Diamonds Evermore was a black male, approximately 6 feet tall, medium build, with a dark-colored hoody and a white North Face logo across the front. The man had the hoody pulled over his head and a light blue surgical mask over the bottom part of his face and appeared to be wearing dark-colored sweatpants and dark shoes with white soles, records show.

Thron is asking the public to provide any information about any of the three incidents.

As for Tarson, she said the repairs to her storefront cost approximately $800.

If the perpetrator is caught, she wants him to pay for the damage.

"As a taxpayer, I don't think it's right that I am paying for these criminals to be taken care of in jail and they don't have to pay anything for the damage they've done," she said.

Tarson has lived in Clovis for 14 years and said she has noticed a spike in crime and that the laws in New Mexico regarding criminal offenses need to change.

"Criminals are on a revolving door. Our cops are re-arresting the same people who are habitual offenders," she said.

Tarson said most businesses surrounding her on Main have also been targets of crime.

"Just ride down Main Street and take a look at the bullet holes in the windows," she said.

Despite the crime, Tarson said she still loves the community.

"I love the people of Clovis, and I love this community. We do have good people here," she said.