Caught on camera: Jewelry heist nearly foiled by slick floor

COVENTRY, England -- Surveillance video from a jewelry store in England shows a Mercedes Benz barreling through the front windows. Several thieves hopped out, but as soon as their feet hit the floor, the robbers slipped, slid and fell.

The group skated across the polished floor of the store, stumbling and tumbling as they went. Eventually they made their way to the jewelry cases, smashed the glass with axes and bagged hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry, Sky News reports.

Meanwhile alarms sounded and smoke filled the store.

Tap here to watch the video on the news app.

The thieves were able to slip back out of the store in under a minute. They are still on the run, and police are now asking the public for help finding them.

Detectives said they are most likely armed and extremely dangerous.

"Some may think this is a victim-less crime but I want people to be under no illusion. These are dangerous and desperate men who threatened to shoot a man who was passing the store at the time they raided it," Detective Constable Lee Buckler told Sky News.

The getaway driver reportedly drove recklessly through the streets of Coventry while fleeing the scene.