Police searching for jewelry store thieves in Taoyuan

Taoyuan, Jan. 26 (CNA) Two men posing as customers at a jewelry store in Taoyuan on Sunday stole a gold necklace and pendant valued at around NT$420,000 (US$13,375), police said, adding that a search has been launched for the suspects.

Police at the city's Yangmei Precinct said they received a report at around 5 p.m. that a jewelry store on Zhongzheng Road in Xinwu District had been robbed.

When police arrived on the scene, they learned that the two men had entered the shop earlier, pretending to be shopping for gold jewelry, the precinct said. In a moment when the staff were distracted, the men snatched a gold necklace and pendant and fled on a motorcycle, police said.

The stolen jewelry is estimated to weigh more than two taels, with an estimated value of NT$420,000, police said.

The motorcycle that the men used was later found at Fuxing Fishing Harbor in the neighboring Hsinchu County, but the two suspects had already fled, police said, adding that a task force has been assembled to find them.

According to a resident in the area, the jewelry store has been in business for more than 40 years, and the robbery was a shock to the people in the normally quiet district of Xinwu.