Thieves steal jewelry worth $350,000 in Stony Point Shopping Center parking lot

Richmond police were working yesterday to solve a bold daylight robbery of an estimated $350,000 worth of merchandise that ranks among the largest jewelry heists in the city's history.

Police released few details about the incident Wednesday afternoon, but sources confirmed yesterday that three men converged on a New York jewelry distributor who was calling on Richmond-area jewelers, forced him face-down in a shopping-mall parking lot, and quickly made off with his jewelry merchandise.

The robbery occurred shortly after 5 p.m. in the main parking lot of the Stony Point Shopping Center, a strip mall at Huguenot and Stony Point roads near the city's western boundary south of the James River.

The victim was not injured in the robbery, which authorities said appeared to be the work of professionals who not only targeted the man but also followed him and waited for their chance to strike.

"We believe it was maybe a planned robbery, not one of opportunity. This fellow may have been followed," police spokesman Gene Lepley said.

The Police Department did not place a value on the amount of merchandise taken, but several law-enforcement sources said the assorted jewelry was worth $350,000.

Richmond Times-Dispatch archives going back several decades show only one other confirmed large jewelry robbery in the city: Four men robbed a jewelry distributor outside the Victoria Charles Ltd. store in the 5700 block of Grove Avenue on Nov. 9, 2005, and got away with jewelry that the distributor said had a retail value of $1 million to $1.5 million.

Also, on Aug. 4, 1987, a jewelry dealer was found stabbed to death in her house in the 4300 block of Stuart Avenue in the city's West End. One neighbor said the victim kept jewelry worth almost $250,000 in the house, and Richmond police said several pieces of jewelry were missing, but they did not elaborate.

Police declined to comment on the status of the investigation of Wednesday's robbery other than to say it was ongoing and that the getaway vehicle was believed to be a silver minivan.

Sources said the jeweler made stops at several businesses in the Richmond area before the robbery.

David Lastovica, who operates Lastovica Jewelers near the western end of the Stony Point strip mall, said the jeweler just had walked out of his business when the robbery occurred.

"He had left. He was on his way to his car," Lastovica said yesterday. "It didn't really have anything to do with us."

Sources said the jeweler who was robbed was approaching his car near the Ukrop's grocery store at the mall's eastern end when a van with three males inside swooped to a stop in front of him.

Two males wearing masks and brandishing knives jumped out and ordered him to lay facedown in the parking lot, the sources said.

In a matter of a few seconds, the men took the jeweler's cell phone and two cases containing his merchandise, and they jumped back in the van and sped from the scene, according to sources.

The mall was typically busy for after 5 p.m. on a weekday, and a man who was driving nearby in the lot saw what was happening and tried to follow the getaway van but quickly lost it, sources said.

The sources said the getaway vehicle may have had markings distinguishing it as a commercial delivery van.

"At this point, we're only saying it was a silver minivan," Lepley said.

Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or .