Evening star., 1897-03-09
A DARING ROBBERY
Three Thousand Dollars Worth Of
Diamonds Stolen.
Mr.. GER0ME DES0 fHE VICTIM
Probably There Were Three in the
Gang Of Thieves.
POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT

One of the most daring diamond ro5ber!es
that has occurred in Washington in 4 long
time was perpetrated about noon today. The
victim of the light-fingered gentry is
Gerome Desio. who keeps a handsome jew
elry store at 11O7 F street and always has
on hand large stock of precious stones.
While the details of the occurrence are diff
ficult to reach, owing to the seal of silence
which the police have placed OH every one
who knows anything about it, enough is
known to make 1t clear that the loss was
a heavy one
No accurate estimate of the value of the
articles stolen has yet been made but II
| is certain that it will reach in the neigh
Ecrhood of 5000. The articles stolen were
all rings and brooches set with precious
stones. In all there were about thirty sepa-
rate pieces.
The Plan Pursued.
Shortly before noon today three men en-
tered the store. One came alone first ard
| engaged the proprietor of the store in con-
versatfon. While 1t is by no means certain
that he was a member of the gang, the
| methods that he pursued were precisely
those that diamond robbers frequently Use.
and the supposition now is that he was
one of the party. He told the proprietor of
| the store that he represented a committee
which had been appointed to purchase a
suitable testimonial, giving the impress
that the proposed recipient of the gift was
retiring government official. He said that
| he had between $50 and $40 to spend on the
testimonial and was anxious to obtain the
| assistance Of Mr.. Desio in making the Sc
| lection.
While he was speaking to Mr. Desio two
cther men, who either came in with MIN
or Immediately afterward, were standing
near the door. Several of the clerks hap
pened to he out of the store at the time
| and those who were there .were occupid
al the moment. and the two men near
the entrance, Well dressed and prospe rous-
looking men, attracted no particular atten-
! tion.
The man who was looking for testi-
| monial clock, a piece of silver ware or
| anything OF the sort that would be appro-
pirate, was hard to please, and kept Mr..
| Desio pretty well occupied. He finally de-
| clded that there was nothing in the store
tHat just took his taste, and, with the le-
| mark that he would be back later in the
day to see about the matter again, he
,e,surey s buttoned up his overcoat an1
as though they were in a hurry and could
| Eot stop to be waited on just then.
1 Tray and Contents Gone.
! All this happened about fifteen minutes
! of IL o'clock 1t was just about noon when
one of the clerks looked into the show
window to the right of the door as one
| enters the store. He noticed a broad ex-
| panse of velvet window trimming which
| ought to have been the background for
| display tray of jewels. Tray and contents
were gone No one saw them go. but it
| is pretty safe guess that ore of the
| two men put it under his overcoat and left
| the place The tray was in place when the
men came in and was gone when they left
| 1t was very daring robbery, occurring
| as 1t did. in broad daylight and in full
| view OF passers-by on the north side of F
| street. Ii any one saw the man remove
the tray from the window he probably
thought 1t was one of the clerks or a
| trusted customer, who was making him
| self very much at home. At any rate no
| alarm was given at the time.
Notified the Police.
AS soon as the robbery was discovered
| MI Desio lost no time in making the facts
| known to the police. He first communi-
| Gated with the first precinct and then hur-
rled Off to police headquarters where he
was closeted with Inspector Hollinberger
for some little time Detectives Horne
| Weeoon and Boyd were at once assigned
10 tne case, and Detective Proctor started
| Off on the rounds of the pawn shops to
spread the alarm. The police were fur
| nished with fairly good description of
tne men, all OF whom are said to have been
l young and well dressed. They made such
| good impression at first glance that their
presence In jewelry store naturally gave
| rise TO no suspicion.
| inspector Hollinberger also succeeded in
| getting from Mr.. Desio a description of the
stolen goods. The detectives hurried at
| once to the store on F street and made a
study OF the geography of the place at the
same time forbidding every one connected
with the store to say anything abou. the
| loDoery to reporters any one else on
the ground that publicity might interfere
with their efforts in running down the
| robbers
The Stolen Tray.
The tray that was stolen contained only
| brooches and rings. 1t was a handsome
jewelers. tray. made in a curious shape,
with ornamental corners and curving sides.
| covered with blue velvet of light shade.
At each corner there was valuable ring,
while other rings and pins were placed
about in an attractive way that was likely
to catch the eye of passerby.
| Among them were several fine solitaire
| diamond rings that were quite valuable
| Nest Of the settings were of diamonds
| though some were combinations of dia-
| monds with emeralds and diamonds with
| sapphires.
| This afternoon Inspector Hollinberger
telegraphed description of the men and
Of the stolen goods to the police of all the
principal cities in this part Of the country,
| and extra men were stationed at the rail-
| road station with instructions to keep a
| sharp lookout for any men that might an
| swer the description of the much wanted
| individuals, but up to a late hour this af-
ternoon no clue had been secured.