WATCH: Shocking footage shows thieves storm jewellery store
A Melbourne jeweller has been left to consider whether it's time to close up shop after a gang of thieves stormed her business, ransacking it for cash and jewellery.
The masked thieves arrived to the store in a stolen car at about 4.30pm on Friday afternoon and when they couldn't open the locked door, they brazenly smashed the front window.
Jacque Edwards - who has owned the store for 27 years - said the thieves "picked up the cash register and smashed, grabbed and scooped".
"It's just heart-wrenching for this to keep happening - it’s just dreadful," she said.
Ms Edwards had left the store just an hour earlier, leaving an employee to close up shop when the gang stormed the business.
Neighbouring shop owner Muhammad Ahmed Shoaib saw the incident unfold, hiding in his shop until it was safe to help the employee.
"She was crying, she was shivering and all that," he said.
The thieves ran back to their car, leaving behind a trashed store.
Every cabinet besides one was destroyed, with Ms Edwards describing the scene like "a bomb hit it".
"There was gold and diamong jewellery just lying on the floor," she said.
Due to the mess it will take Ms Edwards days to determine how much jewellery was stolen, she's also been left to decide whether she should stay in business or not.
"When its going to stop? How is it going to stop? Is it ever going to stop? I haven’t made up my mind on whether I'll continue or say 'no that’s enough'."
