AUBURN – Police are still searching for suspects in Saturday’s burglary at Day’s Fine Jewelers.

Detectives were hoping to get calls from people who were in Shaw’s Plaza on Center Street Saturday between 6:30 and 7 p.m. and noticed someone removing the plate glass from the display window and taking the jewelry.

But Sunday and Monday went by with no tips.

Auburn Police Capt. Kevin Mulherin said investigators plan to review surveillance tapes from the camera used by Shaw’s to pan the parking lot.

But they aren’t hopeful.

“I think the camera is mostly used for the parking lot,” Mulherin said. “I don’t think it picks up the entrances of the other stores in the plaza.”

Tricia Goulet, the manager of the jewelry store, now estimates that more than $9,000 in diamond necklaces, rings, bracelets and pendants were taken in the heist.

Goulet and two other employees were working at the time of the burglary. None of them heard anything, and none of the customers who visited the store that evening reported seeing anything suspicious.

One of the employees discovered the missing jewelry at about 7 p.m., when she went to the window display to return a piece of jewelry that she had removed about a half-hour earlier to show a customer.

The thieves did not break or cut the glass window. They most likely used some type of tool to pop it out of the molding, police said.

Removing glass from that type of window isn’t easy, according to local glass experts.

An employee of Champion Glass in Lewiston believes the thieves must have some experience installing and removing glass, because that is the only way they would have known how much pressure they could put on the glass before breaking it.

When police arrived, the glass plate was resting up against the building. It didn’t have any chips or big scrapes. The other three window displays, showing arrangements of gold, silver and pearl jewelry, were not touched.

Goulet has since removed the jewelry from all of the windows.

Detectives dusted the window display for fingerprints, but they believe the burglars were wearing gloves.

Police are still hoping a witness saw someone removing the display window but didn’t say anything because they assumed the thieves were employees of the store or workers from a glass company.

Anyone with information is encouraged to phone the Auburn Police Department at 784-7332.

lchmelecki@sunjournal.com

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