Surveillance video shows masked man in Oviedo Mall burglary

OVIEDO, Fla. — WFTV has obtained surveillance video from the Oviedo Mall after three stores were burglarized late Monday night.

Authorities said a burglar stayed inside the mall after it closed, stealing several pieces of high-end jewelry from Precious Fine Jewelry and other stores.

Managers and mall owners were allowed inside on Tuesday to survey damage and find out what was stolen.

"You never know. People come up with crazy ideas with the way the economy is right now. People are getting desperate, so we're still trying to ascertain at this time as far as the investigation," said Sgt. Lawrence Walton of the Oviedo Police Department.

"It's strange and apparently it worked for whoever did it," said Lt. Mike Beavers of the Oviedo Police Department.

Police said the crook was wearing a mask and gloves and used a bolt cutter to get through chains surrounding closed stores inside.

"They got inside the jewelry case and it appears there could be some jewelry missing," said Beavers.

Oviedo resident Dale Rogers said he was surprised to learn that mall security was on duty when it happened.

"They're always here. They're walking up and down and they're here early when I come and when I leave," said Rogers.

In a statement, mall management wrote, "This is the first incident of its kind in 14 years, and after checking all mall access points, it was confirmed they were secure."

Management insists the mall remains a safe place to shop within the community.

"The fact that an individual could be inside and have time to enter three separate businesses does lead us to some concern," said Beavers.

Investigators said the burglar tripped a motion detector that set off an alarm, and that's when he took off.

WFTV