When the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa opened just over 10 years ago it made a number of headlines. It was the first hotel/casino opened in over 10 years when it finally opened it doors. The $1.1 billion 2,002 room hotel immediately earned the distinction of becoming New Jersey’s largest hotel. The Borgata also brought unwanted (are there any other types?) words from Donald Trump. As part of the “Tunnel Project” which would have delivered drivers and gamblers from the New Jersey Turnpike straight to the door of the Atlantic City Mirage, the project was ultimately cancelled. Trump, however, did sue Steve Wynn claiming repeatedly that the tunnel was simply a driveway to a casino that wasn’t his.
Borgata Robbery Could Be $500,000
This week saw the Borgata again make headlines. Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the casino and spa that claims the east coast’s largest poker room and the famed Water Hotel. While this should have been positive publicity for the Borgata as the Roots and Aziz Ansari were performing during the casino’s anniversary celebration, three men entered the Borgata’s jewelry store before smashing display cases and fleeing on foot with somewhere between $200,000 worth of Rolex watches or $500,000 in jewelry depending on which news source you believe. The suspects then sped away in a dark car and remain at large.
What should have been a celebration has now brought some focus to the brazen “3 minute robberies” that jewelers are always on the lookout for and still have difficulty preventing.
Jewelry stores need to catch the eye of potential customers, and this means the use of glass. While glass can be made stronger, it remains glass.
According to reporting from Anthony DeMarco in Forbes today, these robberies are nothing new on the east coast, but the high profile nature of this robbery simply received more attention.
A Rash of Smash-and-Grabs on the East Coast
“What’s interesting is we’re seeing a big rash of smash-and-grabs between New Jersey and Atlanta on the east coast. A tremendous rash of them in that east coast region. The localities really have shifted,” said John J. Kennedy, president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, which provides crime information and assistance to the jewelry industry and law enforcement.
“There seems to be more instances where a large number of males go into the store and smash the case and get out of there in 20 or 30 seconds rather than point a gun at a store owner.”
While most owners would prefer not to have a gun stuck in their face, no one likes to be robbed in any fashion.
