A brazen burglar scooped up about $1.5 million worth of jewelry products from a Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s Tuesday – but abandoned the loot that he’d stuffed into two suitcases when a worker chased him with a stick, cops and the guard said.
The thief packed more than 700 assorted jewelry items — including a stash of gold he’d pulled from two registers — into the luggage, which was also allegedly stolen from the store, police and the Macy’s guard said.
“When I opened it, I said, ‘Oh my God,’” said the eagle-eyed worker, who chased the thief. “I don’t realize that dude took all that stuff from the jewelry section. That’s a lot of jewelry.”
The alleged thief apparently entered the department store while it was still open, cops said.
“He took the luggage from the luggage department in the basement, came up and filled it in the jewelry section,” said the guard, who did not want to be identified.
Then he hid out, apparently hoping to go undetected, the employee said.
After closing time, around 10:15 p.m. the guard was watching cameras when he suddenly saw a shadow nearby, hiding behind a wall – not on the footage, but close to him, he said.
“I said, ‘Who is it?’” the worker said.
The spooked crook then tried to leave the store through a side entrance with the packed-up, pricey loot, authorities said.
“By the time he tried to walk out, he said, ‘Oh, let me go. Let me go with those two luggages. I just want to walk outside.’”
But the determined employee wasn’t having it. He grabbed a stick and followed the thief – which scared him off and he ran away, ditching the two suitcases on the sidewalk.
The guard was astonished by what he found inside the luggage pieces. The items, worth about $1.5 million, included chains, rings, necklaces, bracelets, according to cops and the worker.
“It’s like he opened two registers [of] jewelry that had gold with it and stole everything,” the employee said.
The store is still working on an inventory tally, but it appears all of the items taken by the would-be crook have been recovered, sources said.
No one was hurt during the ordeal, cops said.
The NYPD is still looking to track down the sticky-fingered suspect, last seen wearing a black Nike ski cap, a black mask, a black leather jacket, black pants, black shoes, gray and black snow gloves.
In one photo released by police, he is also seen wearing a yellow construction vest.
The store where the heist occurred is set to close down sometime this year. The 440,000-square-foot property was sold to a syndicate of New York real estate investors for $23 million.
One investor told The Post it could be converted into “family-friendly attractions” with possible tenants including Netflix, Universal and Lego.
Anyone with information on the alleged pilferer – who remains on the loose — is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.
