In a carefully planned overnight heist, thieves cut through a safe and stole more than $1.3 million worth of jewelry from a store outside Chicago, the store owner said.
The burglars worked for nearly five hours during the night of May 9-10, 2025, disabling Internet service to the entire office complex where Rick Kleinvehn Diamond Brokers in South Barrington, Illinois, is located before breaking into the store, according to store owner Rick Kleinvehn.
South Barrington is about 45 minutes outside Chicago.
“They used a wet saw, and the interior where the safe was became all slushy, muddy, just kind of a goo on the floor from them cutting for hours and hours through that steel,” Kleinvehn told ABC News. “They had buckets, and they were filling buckets and pouring it on the hot metal.”
Moreover: I am somehow just not able to commiserate to the jewelry sellers/manufacturers.
I can empathize with having my stuff taken, but if you had $1.3 million in jewels, I’m going to bet you’re still better off than almost everyone I know even after the theft. This is a minor inconvenience, and that’s before we even begin to discuss the ethical implications of the jewelry trade.