COBBLE HILL — Three men were caught last month when they tried to break into a Cobble Hill jewelry store for the second time in just a few weeks, police said.
The trio had already stolen pricey jewels from Elleven, a popular shop selling handcrafted jewelry at 168 Court St., on Dec. 10, and they allegedly returned early in the morning of Jan. 16 in an attempt to strike again, police said.
But cops — who believed the three suspects were behind a citywide string of robberies involving dozens of stores — were staking out Elleven when the suspects returned.
"They were caught red-handed," NYPD Captain Jeffrey Schiff at a recent 76th Precinct meeting.
Anibal Cruz, 25, Carlos Ortiz, 37, and Rico Acevedo, 45, were arrested and charged with burglary, criminal mischief, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal trespassing, grand larceny, petty larceny and possession of burglar tools, according to the King's County District Attorney's office.
Their next court date has yet to be scheduled.
During the Dec. 6 break-in, the first that had ever occurred at Elleven, the suspects used tools to cut open the store’s metal gate, “smashed the display cases and took all the jewelry that was there,” Schiff said.
The Court Street shop sells jewelry with prices ranging between $400 and $500. Most pieces use gold and semi-precious stones, staffers said in December.
The store was closed on Wednesday morning and could not immediately be reached for comment.
