Thieves target families' gold

East Indian homes are being hit by burglars looking for pricey jewelry.

By KEVIN GILES and MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: February 28, 2008 - 12:35 PM

Burglaries in Woodbury, Edina and Savage of hundreds of thousands of dollars in expensive jewelry that East Indian families give for birthdays, marriages and other celebrations have police looking for connections and residents concerned that they're being targeted.

"There's a pretty big fear factor going through the Woodbury community," said resident Makhtur Thakur, who estimated that 500 to 1,000 people of Indian or Pakistani descent live in the Washington County city. Worried members of the community, he said, were forming neighborhood watch programs.

One Woodbury victim, Varsha Bhatia, said burglars ransacked her house and stole an estimated $100,000 in gold jewelry when she was in India with her family in January and early February. "In Indian families, you get gifted jewelry," she said. Some were valuable family heirlooms.

In Edina and Savage, the targeted houses were both owned by Indian families. In the Savage break-in, thieves opened a safe. Neither city has a large East Indian population.

Savage police Capt. Dave Muelken said the thieves might be familiar with cultural habits, such as keeping valuable jewelry at home rather than in a safety deposit box. He is talking with police in Edina and Woodbury about the cases.

"I think there's got to be some common link between them," he said.

Woodbury police plan to meet with members of the East Indian community to determine possible links, said Capt. Kris Meinert. In all three cases, burglars were "breaking the door open and taking elaborate Indian jewelry, high quality gold in the 24-karat range or higher," she said.

Thakur said the burglaries might be connected to a hot market for antique Indian jewelry. He said that East Indian families tend to wear their expensive jewelry, "some to the point of overload," to social and cultural events.

Bhatia, however, said that she doesn't wear much jewelry and hadn't gone to any recent events where she might have drawn attention.

In the Edina case, a resident came home from work Jan. 28 and discovered that a door had been forced open and about $350,000 in property was missing. A ruby and diamond necklace and a gold necklace with an emerald and pearl pendant had been taken, along with earrings and other jewelry valued at $150,000.

In the Savage burglary, reported Dec. 20, pearl and emerald necklaces, gold chains, and gold, emerald and pearl earrings had been stolen, along with watches, American and East Indian cash and U.S. savings bonds. Total value was about $100,000.

"I believe someone had advance notice that there was something to look for in that house," Muelken said.

Police are looking for a gold or metallic colored minivan that was seen in the Edina neighborhood around the time of the burglary, which took place between 8 a.m. and 3:45 p.m.

In Woodbury, burglars hit three houses east of Radio Drive and attempted to break into two others, Meinert said.

The most recent theft was reported Friday.

One homeowner who was home when burglars came calling described one of the suspects as a muscular black man around 30 years old, about 5-feet-11-inches tall and wearing a dark jacket. He was seen driving an older model, boxy turquoise sedan with discoloration. The other suspect with the driver was described as a Hispanic male, also around 30, with short hair, about 5-feet-11-inches tall with a muscular build, and wearing a denim jacket with white or tan sleeves.

The Edina Crime Prevention Fund is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the burglary there, said Molly Anderson, a police spokeswoman.

Anybody with information is asked to call Edina police at 952-826-1600 or Woodbury police at 651-714-3600.

Kevin Giles • 651-430-8858 Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380 Staff writer Tim Harlow contributed to this report.

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