Colorado store owners call it quits after 4th burglary in 3 years

The owners of a Colorado Springs jewelry store have decided to close their doors following the latest of four burglaries.

The family that owns the store lost $220,000 in the March 23 break-in. 

The store has been burglarized four times in the past three years, according to a family member.

Security cameras caught two people dressed in all black and wearing masks using a pickaxe to gain access to the store and a sledgehammer to smash glass display cases.

"This one was the most intense burglary but it has happened four times total," the daughter of the owners told CBS affiliate KKTV. "We started off from a little kiosk in the Citadel Mall and it took us 24 years to work our way up to this store, and they took it apart in less than five minutes."

The family declined to identify the store and did not want their names used out of fear for retribution from the thieves. 

The daughter did say the store is a short distance from one of the mall's entrances. She believes the thieves threw rocks at the entrance's glass partitions to get into the mall. The fact the family's store is a short distance from the mall entrance makes it attractive to criminals by offering quick entry and easy escape. But requests to mall management to improve security at the entrance have been denied due to expense, the daughter said. 

"We're so distressed and terrified," she said. "My mom is not able to sleep or eat. She is still so shaken up that she has not come back to the store or is even able to watch the video footage."   

The Colorado Springs Police Department is asking anyone with information about the crime to call 719-444-7000. Meanwhile, the family is trying raise money for a reward leading to any arrest. 

But that is proving more difficult than usual. The jewelry store's insurance company is refusing to cover the store's losses. The daughter explained the store's insurance policy was recently sold by the prior insurance company to a new insurance company. Unknown to the family, the new policy did not cover theft or property damage committed by a third party. The family was not aware of the change, and its attorney hired to examine such details was still in the process of looking over the new policy when the latest burglary occurred.

In combination, the obstacles to conducting business have the family ready to move on, the daughter said. A closing date has not been determined. 

She had one message to the criminals: "To them, I know it may just seem like items, and a fun adventure, thrilling thing for them. But for us, you guys ruined our livelihoods."