Hyde Park Jewelers’ flagship store inside the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is seen on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
The FBI is investigating possible similarities between an unsolved jewelry store burglary at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center and a supposedly solved burglary in Aspen last week.
It is the first indication from law enforcement that Hyde Park Jewelers may have fallen victim to a team of thieves in July, as rumored about online. Whether the perpetrators acted with the sophistication and shrewdness that has been attributed to them remains unknown.
In the small hours of July 22, burglars entered the flagship location of the high-end store and stole some amount of jewelry; Hyde Park and police refuse to say how much. No one was injured and the glass storefront was undamaged, but the shop closed for days.
Sixteen weeks later, a crew of masked men used a variety of tools, including blowtorches, to break into a restaurant in Aspen’s Hunter Plaza during the overnight hours of Nov. 11, according to that city’s police and newspapers. Once inside, they broke through one wall, entered an adjacent art gallery, broke through a second wall, and entered Avi & Co.
Like Hyde Park, Avi & Co. is known for its luxury watches. Unlike Hyde Park, the Aspen store had secured its valuables in a safe and the burglary reportedly netted no jewelry.
On Tuesday, four men were arrested in Vail and charged with burglarizing Avi & Co. They range in age from 34 to 43 and are residents of Chile, Peru and Argentina, according to police.
“We are aware of possible similarities between the burglaries,” Vikki Migoya, the public affairs officer for the FBI’s office in Denver, said of the Hyde Park and Avi & Co. incidents, “and are in contact with our law enforcement partners investigating these crimes.”
The burglars in Aspen allegedly knew to cut off power to the jewelry store, spraypaint motion sensors and prevent an alarm from sounding. Police there called it “a brazen burglary.”
Hyde Park’s store in Cherry Creek was closed after the burglary. (BusinessDen file)
In July, a blog for luxury watch collectors claimed that Hyde Park had also been struck by a band of knowledgeable thieves, who dressed as maintenance staff, cut through store walls, and left with tens of millions in contraband. The blog attributed its supposed information to an unnamed security guard at the store. The claims have not been confirmed.
Since the burglary, Denver police have repeatedly declined to release details or turn over documents related to it, with one exception. A log of all police responses to the mall this year shows it was the fourth break-in there in 2024 — compared to 144 thefts and shopliftings while the mall was open — and seven DPD units responded, the most to any incident there.
When asked about the FBI’s statement, DPD and a Hyde Park spokeswoman had no additional comment Friday.
“The case is still under investigation. No arrests have been made. No records or updates are available at this time,” the police department said when asked about the crime at Cherry Creek’s mall.
Hyde Park Jewelers’ flagship store inside the Cherry Creek Shopping Center is seen on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
The FBI is investigating possible similarities between an unsolved jewelry store burglary at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center and a supposedly solved burglary in Aspen last week.
It is the first indication from law enforcement that Hyde Park Jewelers may have fallen victim to a team of thieves in July, as rumored about online. Whether the perpetrators acted with the sophistication and shrewdness that has been attributed to them remains unknown.
In the small hours of July 22, burglars entered the flagship location of the high-end store and stole some amount of jewelry; Hyde Park and police refuse to say how much. No one was injured and the glass storefront was undamaged, but the shop closed for days.
Sixteen weeks later, a crew of masked men used a variety of tools, including blowtorches, to break into a restaurant in Aspen’s Hunter Plaza during the overnight hours of Nov. 11, according to that city’s police and newspapers. Once inside, they broke through one wall, entered an adjacent art gallery, broke through a second wall, and entered Avi & Co.
Like Hyde Park, Avi & Co. is known for its luxury watches. Unlike Hyde Park, the Aspen store had secured its valuables in a safe and the burglary reportedly netted no jewelry.
On Tuesday, four men were arrested in Vail and charged with burglarizing Avi & Co. They range in age from 34 to 43 and are residents of Chile, Peru and Argentina, according to police.
“We are aware of possible similarities between the burglaries,” Vikki Migoya, the public affairs officer for the FBI’s office in Denver, said of the Hyde Park and Avi & Co. incidents, “and are in contact with our law enforcement partners investigating these crimes.”
The burglars in Aspen allegedly knew to cut off power to the jewelry store, spraypaint motion sensors and prevent an alarm from sounding. Police there called it “a brazen burglary.”
Hyde Park’s store in Cherry Creek was closed after the burglary. (BusinessDen file)
In July, a blog for luxury watch collectors claimed that Hyde Park had also been struck by a band of knowledgeable thieves, who dressed as maintenance staff, cut through store walls, and left with tens of millions in contraband. The blog attributed its supposed information to an unnamed security guard at the store. The claims have not been confirmed.
Since the burglary, Denver police have repeatedly declined to release details or turn over documents related to it, with one exception. A log of all police responses to the mall this year shows it was the fourth break-in there in 2024 — compared to 144 thefts and shopliftings while the mall was open — and seven DPD units responded, the most to any incident there.
When asked about the FBI’s statement, DPD and a Hyde Park spokeswoman had no additional comment Friday.
“The case is still under investigation. No arrests have been made. No records or updates are available at this time,” the police department said when asked about the crime at Cherry Creek’s mall.
