While thieves in parking lots are nothing new, thieves of this size are, and the high-end robbery raises questions as to whether there was adequate security.
Bill Phillips said he and his girlfriend had just finished doing some luxury shopping when the incident occurred.
“We were at Louis Vuitton, David Yurman jewelers, Hermes,” said Phillips.
Hands full of Christmas presents, the couple left the King of Prussia Mall at the exit of the Nordstrom to drop off their belongings in the backseat of their SUV.
Phillips said they were going back to the mall for a bite to eat, and less than 20 minutes later he got a call from his office.
Say, ‘Are you at the mall?’ I said, “Yes, I’m here now.” They said, “Go back to your car. Someone broke into your car and stole everything, ”said Phillips.
Two witnesses told police that two females stopped at Phillips’ SUV with a club or sledgehammer, smashed his rear window and left with the loot.
“They were gone in about a minute or a minute and a half,” Phillips said.
Witnesses said the thieves had their number plates covered.
Phillips said what was even more troubling is that the mall’s surveillance cameras failed to detect the crime, even one located directly above his vehicle.
“They said it pointed down to the elevator coming out of the ground floor because they had problems there, but the main parking lot up there has no cameras at all,” Phillips said.
A look at the parking lot reveals four surveillance cameras. We wanted to know how no one captured the crime.
The Simon Group that owns the mall did not comment when Action News pushed for answers to the investigation and whether the mall had adequate surveillance during this time.
Upper Merion police said it is unclear whether the criminals followed Phillips and his girlfriend from the KOP Mall or had watched them in the parking lot.
Investigators said they have no clues.
“The vehicle was parked in an area where there were not really great surveillance images,” said Lieutenant Jeffery Maurer. “But we’re trying to return to see where our victims came from at the mall.”
Phillips said he’s working with his credit card companies to get reimbursement for some of his luxury items.
“It’s a lot of money. Unfortunately, I haven’t really heard from the mall. I haven’t heard from the police,” Phillips said.
Upper Merion police said they are conducting more patrols during the holidays, but people should do their part and be aware of their surroundings.
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