ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Augustine coin shop owner said surveillance cameras captured a late-night attempt to break into his business, raising concerns about security as the value of gold and silver continues to rise.
Investigators say what could have been a major heist happened late Friday night, when two to three suspects were caught on camera using power tools in an effort to access a safe at Silver Dollar City.
Surveillance video from inside a St. Augustine plaza captured the sound of sawing as the suspects worked for more than three hours. Silver Dollar City co-owner Caleb Jarrard described what can be heard in the footage.
“You can hear clearly the saw cutting off the back door of the nail salon, they go into it. You can hear the loud banging noises of them using you know their equipment,” Jarrard said.
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According to Jarrard, the suspects cut through the lock of a neighboring nail salon around 10:40 Friday night. At least one person reportedly arrived at the nail salon on a moped before the group attempted to breach the wall directly behind the coin shop’s primary safe.
After tearing through drywall, the suspects encountered reinforced concrete, which ultimately stopped them.
“We really weren’t expecting it to happen until it did,” Jarrard said.
Surveillance video also captured a moment when the suspects appeared to notice the cameras inside the business.
Jarrard says the question “is that a camera” was raised by two people inside the building, alerting others to the presence of security equipment. All of the suspects fled the scene just before 2 a.m.
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“With the price of gold and silver rising so high, I think they knew exactly what they were after,” Jarrard said.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the attempted burglary. Jarrard says the incident has already forced him to make changes.
“Now that it has happened, we’ve upgraded a lot of security and a lot of things like that.”
The owner of the nail salon says the attempted break-in caused thousands of dollars in damage. Anyone who recognizes individuals seen in the surveillance video is asked to contact the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office.
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