Burglars break through walls, clean out Rittenhouse jewelers

Someone broke through the walls of two Rittenhouse Square-area businesses during a daring overnight burglary of a neighboring jewelry store.

"They took everything," said Matena Kamara, owner of Time & Gold on 19th Street just above Chestnut.

The suspect or suspects first gained access to the basement of a storefront at 1901 Chestnut St., which formerly housed Burger.org on the first floor and is still the site of Aldine restaurant on the second.

They then broke through a wall into the basement of Four Seasons Cleaners next door, on 19th Street, Kamara said.

Drilling through another wall, the suspects entered Time & Gold. Once inside, they cleaned the store out, prying open a safe and removing the contents.

In all, about $250,000 worth of cash and merchandise was taken, Kamara estimated.

She encountered the damage when she opened the store sometime after 8 a.m. Thursday. Philadelphia police confirmed a robbery was reported at that location, but additional information about a suspect or suspects was not immediately available.

The proprietors of Four Seasons, who declined to be identified, said the business escaped the incident relatively unscathed, aside from damage to the basement walls and "a lot of dust."

Aldine owner Jennifer Sabatino took to Facebook to post about the heist, which she described as "totally Ocean's 11 style."

"Got to Aldine and there is crime scene tape all around the building. … There are police everywhere," she wrote.

Time & Gold remained closed Thursday afternoon. Though investigators had cleared out, leftover shreds of crime scene tape littered the block.

"I want to know who did this – who would do this," Kamara said, wiping tears from her eyes as she stood on the jewelry store's front steps. "I just hope they get caught."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police.