Jewelry salesman robbed in Provo

PROVO — Police are looking for four men who robbed a jewelry salesman at gunpoint Tuesday morning and believe the crime may be part of a jewelry theft spree.

A New York man was leaving the Residence Inn at 2230 N. 252 West at 8:42 a.m. when four men approached in a midsize white or silver colored 4-door car, said Provo Police Capt. Cliff Argyle.

Two men got out and one man pointed a gun at the victim then said something the victim believed was in Spanish, Argyle said.

The salesman put his hands in the air, backed away from his car and told the men to take what they wanted.

This is believed to be the eighth jewelry-related robbery in Utah since May 2006.

The men rummaged through the car and left with a piece of luggage and a briefcase — neither of which contained jewels.

Actually, the man didn't have any jewels in his car or his hotel room. They were secured in another location, Argyle said.

One of the assailants used a knife to puncture one of the victim's tires, and the two men jumped in their car with the two other men and drove off.

They are described as being possibly Hispanic, in their mid-20s with dark hair.

The victim tried to get a license plate number but said it was obscured with something that looked like spray paint, Argyle said.

Police are considering the robbery as related to similar robberies of jewelry wholesalers in the past.

"Orem police have had some robberies involving jewelry, and the description (of the suspects), even though it's pretty vague, was pretty similar," Argyle said.

Officers and the victim are still not sure how the men knew he was a jewelry salesman, unless they followed him the day he had made sales.

Jewel heists over the past year include:

• March 13, 2007 — A New Jersey jewelry salesman was stabbed in the hands in the parking lot of an Orem hotel by men who fought him for his bag filled with jewels.

• Jan. 23, 2007 — A California jewelry salesman was accosted by three men outside an American Fork Kohl's, where they stole his rolling bag of jewels.

• Jan. 10, 2007 — Thieves pulled up next to a salesman outside a Murray Holiday Inn Express and demanded his briefcase full of diamonds. They slashed one of his car tires before leaving.

• Dec. 13, 2006 — A jewelry store owner was shot by two men who approached him as he carried a bag of jewelry to his car. The bullet only grazed his chin.

• Nov. 9, 2006 — A New York salesman leaving his Orem hotel was accosted by a man who grabbed his bags full of jewelry and cash.

• Aug. 8, 2006 — A California salesman was pushed to the ground while walking toward an Orem hotel and robbed of his jewelry bags.

• May 17, 2006 — Two men with a gun robbed an Israeli jewelry salesman of nearly $200,000 worth of jewelry in the parking lot of his Murray hotel.

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