A jewellery shop manager in the Ville-Haute neighbourhood of Luxembourg City managed to prevent the theft of a necklace valued at over €20,000 on Tuesday afternoon, after becoming suspicious of a customer’s behaviour.
Jeff Costa, one of the shop’s managers, described the incident to our colleagues from RTL Télé. He stated that the individual acted suspiciously from the outset, beckoning a sales assistant outside to look at something in the shop window, requesting to see numerous individual pieces, and following the seller into every corner of the shop. Costa noted that a respectful customer typically waits at the counter and does not follow staff behind it. Watching the scene unfold on CCTV footage from his office, Costa said he immediately had a bad feeling about the situation.
His intuition proved correct as the individual persisted in trying to distract the seller by asking to examine multiple pieces more closely. While the seller was searching for one of the requested items, the culprit seized the opportunity and slipped a necklace valued at over €20,000 into a jacket pocket.
When Costa confronted the individual and threatened to call the police, the suspect returned the necklace and attempted to leave the shop. However, the manager was not willing to let the matter rest there and sought to detain the individual until authorities arrived. The suspect then resisted, damaging the shop’s security door in the process. As Costa grabbed the individual by the collar to prevent them from escaping, the suspect began making threats, suggesting they were carrying a knife. At that point, Costa decided it was not worth the risk and released the individual.
Reflecting on the incident, Costa shared advice for fellow jewellery shop managers. He emphasised the importance of ensuring at least two staff members are present in the shop at all times. He also recommended that if jewellery shops are considering investments, they should prioritise upgrading their security systems above all else. “Not to badmouth everything, but we do live in times when you have to be a bit more vigilant”, Costa concluded.
