West Allis Police are hoping surveillance images from a jewelry store near 108th & National will help them catch the male suspect who tied up two employees and made off with a bag stuffed full of merchandise.
It happened shortly before Noon on Monday at Paul's Jewelers.
The suspect, who was wearing a suit, "entered the store and removed a black semi-automatic handgun from a waistband holster, moved two store employees to a back office and bound the employees," according to West Allis Police.
Susan White, one of the workers restrained with zip ties during the robbery, said the man took keys to the store's glass jewelry cases and began cleaning them out.
"He said, at least two or three times, 'I'm not here to hurt you,'" White said.
"But then he got more gruff. I kept thinking, 'Please don't shoot us. Please don't shoot us,'" she added.
White estimated the man left with about one-third of the store's jewelry supply. The business didn't have an estimate yet on the monetary value of the items stolen.
The suspect stole her co-worker's car, which police describe as a 2009, blue, Hyundai Santa Fe with Wisconsin license plate 837-BPC.
"The suspect is considered armed," police said. "If an individual observes the suspect or the stolen vehicle, they should not contact the subject and should immediately notify local law enforcement."
