Hammer-Wielding Thief Smashes Case, Steals Five Gold Chains from Glendale Pawn Shop

Surveillance cameras inside Super Pawn near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road in Glendale, Arizona captured the moment a man walked through the door carrying a hammer, dropped it, picked it back up, and used it to smash a glass display case in the corner of the store, making off with five gold chains valued at more than $10,000.

The robbery unfolded last Wednesday, and the suspect was still at large as of this week. Glendale police classified it as an armed robbery, a designation supported by footage showing the man lift his hammer toward a customer as he ran for the exit, though he did not strike the customer. He fled before police arrived.

Omar Lopez Badilla, a sales associate who witnessed the entire incident and called 911, described the suspect's approach as unhesitating and focused. "He just ran in all of the sudden and started smacking the glass. It took him a couple of tries. I mean the glass is pretty tough, but at the end he got through it, reached in, and just grabbed it, and ran," Lopez Badilla said. His summary of the outcome was blunt: "It could have been way worse."

What the surveillance footage also revealed, once staff reviewed it after the theft, was that the suspect had likely been in the store roughly two hours earlier, browsing the same case. The outdoor cameras caught him lingering near a corner of the store in what Lopez Badilla read as deliberate rehearsal. "He was over there in the corner. It just seemed like he was pacing around, definitely mentally preparing himself, and then he just eventually decided to do it," Lopez Badilla said.

The jewelry holder the suspect grabbed contained five gold chains, a count confirmed by police. The total value was reported as over $10,000, though the precise appraisal methodology has not been publicly detailed.

The suspect's clothing is the most distinctive lead investigators have. He was wearing a yellow sweatshirt with a gray t-shirt layered on top, black athletic shorts, green gardening gloves, and a blue surgical face mask. Glendale police public information officer Moroni Mendez said that combination of clothing should be recognizable to someone who knows this man. "People know who this guy is, right. People have seen him around. He has family. He has friends. He has neighbors, potentially. So, I'm sure with the distinct clothing, that might be a real key indicator of figuring out who this guy is," Mendez said.

No arrest has been reported, and police are asking the public for help identifying the suspect.