Burglary at jewelry store in Morgantown Mall under investigation

WESTOVER, W.Va. – Westover Police Detectives are investigating a jewelry store robbery that occurred Saturday night at the Morgantown Mall.

Detective Shaun Hilling said the Zales jewelry store was robbed by three men between 9 and 10 p.m. Saturday – after the security gate was broken down.

The building’s alarm was not designed to notify police directly, so the investigation began after members of the janitorial staff noticed the crime and called police, Hilling said.

“We were notified by mall security that the Zales jewelry store in Morgantown Mall had been burglarized,” Hilling said. “When we responded, we found that the store gate had been broken open and that perpetrators had entered and stolen merchandise.”

Hilling said they are still working with other tenants of the mall to find more surveillance footage. Based on the video and images currently available, he said the suspects, who were African American, fled the area in a gray SUV.

“We are currently working to obtain more video footage and better video footage of the vehicle and the suspects to provide the public with better images that can better assist us,” Hilling said.

At the time of this report, Hilling did not yet have the exact amount of the loss.

“The store is still conducting an inventory to give us a complete picture of what type of jewelry was stolen and its value,” Hilling said. “At this point, we know it’s several thousand dollars; we’re just not sure of the exact amount.”

Hilling also leads the Loss Prevention Roundtable, which educates retailers in the Westover, Star City and Granville areas on trends and tactics. The meetings create a two-way channel between police and businesses to better control losses.

“Sometimes we can actually give them a picture of a suspect we’re looking for, and they know it because of previous incidents in their business,” Hilling said. “So yes, it can be very helpful.”