Colonie police are investigating two separate grand larceny crimes that took place in the Town of Colonie from February to April.
The first incident took place at about 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, in which police do have surveillance footage of the crime, involved a male suspect crawling behind the counter at Glenn Peter jewelers in Colonie Center, using a tool or key to open several cabinets and take a 1.7 carat diamond ring and loose diamonds worth $25,000 while another male and female appear to have distracted the clerk.
The second incident involved two males and two females, also for which Colonie police have surveillance footage of the crime, stealing from victim’s purses while they were eating at Panera Bread. The purse stealing incidents ocurred on three separate dates: February 11, March 20 and April 25.
Police said the purses were hanging on the back of chairs at the time of the larcenies. Suspects would bump into the chairs and then reach in and steal wallets from the purses.
They would then go to a nearby store and purchase thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, police said.
If anyone has any information, the Colonie police ask that you contact Detective Lt. John Van Alstyne at 783-2754.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, June 3 print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.`
