Thieves Use Blow Torch in Jewelry Store Heist

A Center City jewelry store was wiped clean after thieves broke down walls and used a blow torch to gain access to its safe.

Burglars broke into the Gem Mine Jewelry Store at 8th and Chestnut streets Saturday night, police said. They smashed through the roof of the building, crawled through ventilation duct work and climbed into the store. They then used a blow torch to get hrough the thick steel walls of the safe, police said.

The store's alarm system was tripped, but police thought it a false alarm after visiting the store and visually inspecting from outside.

When owner Andy Kang opened up shop Monday morning, over $400,000 worth of jewelry was missing.

"I'm feeling very, very awful...I feel like a dead person." Kang says he does not have insurance.

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