A family-owned Norco jewelry store may be forced to shut its doors for good after four men broke in Wednesday night and took most of the business’s inventory.
“They cleaned us out,” store owner Danny Shevitski said only a few hours after the thieves hit their store, Diamond Mind Jewelers, in the 2500 block of Hamner Avenue. “I don’t have anything to sell. I don’t know if I can recover from this one.”
Shevitski said the store had recovered from a would-be break-in earlier this year.
In that instance, someone tried to ram a truck through the front entrance. However, the security doors held and the would-be thief left empty-handed.
But around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Shevitski said four men broke in through the rear of the store, grabbed most of his merchandise and fled in less than 40 seconds.
“By the time I checked the cameras after the alarm went off, they were already gone,” he said.
Riverside County sheriff’s officials say they are investigating the theft.
The store opened 34 years ago by Shevitski’s father, Danny Shevitski Sr. The younger Shevitski took it over about 20 years ago.
“It’s our sole form of income,” said Shevitski, the frustration audible in his voice. “I’m the sole provider.”
The store has a nearly perfect 4.5-star rating on Yelp with customers praising the staff and owners for their caring, hands-on approach to customer service.
Shevitski, the freshman football coach at Centennial High School for the last 20 years, was on his way to practice Wednesday when he said he failed to follow his usual routine of locking up the merchandise.
“Yesterday I ran out of the store and my brain went a different direction,” he said. “I didn’t think about it. I locked up and I left and that’s the day I got hit.”
Sheriff’s investigators ask anyone with information on the incident to call the Norco station at 951-270-5673.
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