LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A Lake Stevens jeweler came home from a weekend camping trip to his store ransacked and burglarized.
It happened at the Lake Stevens Jewelers, and the owner says the damage is so bad he may have to close for good.
Thieves reportedly took more than a quarter-million dollars of precious stones and metals.
The owner, Bogdan Dabrowski, said the thieves broke in Sunday night and cleaned out the safes. They even cut through two inches of metal to get to the valuables. They got in by breaking a side window and climbing inside.
“I cannot come back here. I cannot be here by myself more than two minutes. I have to leave. My life, my work,” said Dabrowski.
Bogdan said he didn’t learn of the crime until Monday morning, on his trip back from camping, when his phone regained service. It’s a trip he takes every year.
“It was pretty organized. They cut the main wiring for the other businesses. There was almost no power in the whole building,” he said. “They were probably casing me for weeks.”
Dabrowski said he’s owned Lake Stevens Jewelers since 2005. Bogdan said the display cases are emptied each night, and all the valuables are moved to the safes. That’s also the first target for the burglars.
“There was some nice earrings with like two carats of weight. Probably like $12k. There was some nice pendants, there was some necklace with sapphires and tanzanites. That was at least $10K-$12K,” said Bogdan.
He added, “Emotions, mixed with anger. Everything together. It’s like everything, all my dreams, everything was just gone in one second.”
Bogdan said the safes held about $300k in retail, precious stones, and metals. He also believes the thieves used a diamond tip saw to cut through the thick metal.
“Mixture of diamond dust let’s say mixed with stainless steel. I can cut this pipe in a few minutes if you have a disk like this. With very powerful tools you can cut this in 5 minutes,” Dabrowski said.
The thieves also ripped the alarm system off the wall and took the hardware that stores security footage. The damage to his shop is especially bad. It may be the end of Lake Stevens Jewelers.
“It’s like 17 years of investment in my tools. I cannot simply replace that and start a new business,” said Bogdan.
Lake Stevens police did not return KIRO 7′s request for comment. Dabrowski said he plans to check area pawn shops for his pieces. There’s also a GoFundMe set up by a community member to help with replacing some of his tools so he can continue a small operation at home.
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