Wells Fargo Museum reopens after robbery
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Wells Fargo Bank reopened its museum in San Francisco's Financial District almost a month after it closed following a bold robbery in January.
No gold nuggets have been found and the thieves are still on the loose, as are those who stole jewelry from three other stores in the city this month.
At the opening ceremonies, Wells Fargo President John Stumpf read a letter from a fourth-grader who had just visited the museum days before the crime.
"This has broken my heart, just like the glass is broken," Stumpf read.
VIDEO: Armed robbers crash SUV into museum, steal gold
It was a crash-and-grab in the middle of the night. The thieves drove an SUV into the glass entrance, held a security guard at gunpoint and made off with gold nuggets from a display case.
The stolen nuggets have been replaced but the FBI has advised Wells Fargo not to talk about their enhanced security.
Since then, there have been three takeovers of jewelry stores in the city, all this month -- a Tiffany store at the Westfield Mall on Market Street in early February, a jewelry shop at Union Square two weeks ago and, just three days ago, two men ransacked a shop at Pier 39 as tourists were milling around.
All robberies were similar. Two to three men armed with a handgun took over jewelry stores when they're open for business. The takeovers, including the Wells Fargo robbery, appear to be well-coordinated.
PHOTOS: Robbery at San Francisco's Wells Fargo Museum
"The three takeover robberies have all happened very quickly, so the suspects were in and out of the businesses. I think the maximum amount of time was about two minutes that they spent," SFPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Monica McDonald said.
The similarities suggest the same robbers may have committed all of the robberies but police have yet to make that connection.
The quickness of the takeovers -- two minutes -- makes it hard for police to find witnesses who can identify them. Plus, the thieves have all been masked.
