Man flees after looting 20,000-yuan bracelet from jewelry store

Police are searching for a man who robbed the downtown Shanghai Wing On Department Store on Tuesday evening and fled with a gold bracelet worth about 20,000 yuan (US$3,225).

The suspect pretended that he wanted to try on the bracelet and grabbed it suddenly and fled.

The man fled too quickly for the shocked security guards and sales personnel to catch him, said Sun Li, assistant manager of the security service department of the store, which is on the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall.

The robbery happened at a jewelry counter on the first floor about 20 meters from the door of the department store, which is the nearest gold counter to the door, police said. The bracelet weighed 70 grams.

The suspect is in his 30s with an out-of-town accent, and video surveillance cameras showed that he had visited the store before the robbery to case the area.

Sun said the department store has stepped up security efforts after the robbery.