Police are hunting a homeless man in connection with a £22,000 jewellery robbery, said the business owner yesterday.
The raider targeted the Northern Diamond shop on Aberdeen’s Union Street shortly after opening time on Thursday. He distracted the owner before grabbing two rings and a bracelet from a window display.
Owner and manager Oscar Ozdaslar said: “The police know who it is, and they are already looking for him.
“They believe he is a homeless guy. A woman recognised him from the picture in the paper, he used to live in her building and stole a mobile phone from her van.”
Mr Ozdaslar was alone in his shop when the robber appeared around 9.30am. He asked to see an item from a display and, while the owner was distracted, targeted several other items.
“He whipped his hand back and I saw two tickets for my rings and my bracelet in his hand,” said Mr Ozdaslar.
“So I said ‘Give me my items, give them to me’ and he didn’t want to, so then I realised he wanted to steal them.”
The owner grabbed the thief and tried to wrestle the items from him, before falling to the ground outside the shop. He then chased the thief in the direction of Golden Square before returning to his shop and calling the police.
“The police have done a good job,” said Mr Ozdaslar.
“In less than 24 hours they have got a name, they have identified him, they are checking places he could stay, they have done a very good job.”
The items stolen by the thief include an 18-carat white gold bracelet with 3.95ct diamonds on it, an 18ct white gold ring with a 1ct diamond worth around £9,500, and a ring featuring a 0.5ct diamond surrounded by several other stones worth around £4,500.
Speaking yesterday a spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed: “We are currently following a positive line of inquiry.”