“Dog Day Afternoon” it wasn’t.
They brought a phony chimney to work behind, a specialized, heavy-duty blowtorch to blast through thick concrete and knew what jewels were worth keeping and which to leave behind.
The burglars who cleaned out a Brooklyn bank’s safe-deposit room over the weekend seemed to plan for everything – except for a neighboring surveillance video.
Investigators believe the thieves worked slowly over several days hunched behind the smokestack as they cut through the roof of the Astoria Federal Savings Bank in Borough Park into a room filled with safe-deposit boxes, sources said.
Once they lowered themselves in by rope, they managed to pry their way into 60 of the bank’s 2,900 boxes, apparently taking only the most valuable jewelry and cash.
When they were done, they climbed back through the roof using a rope and disappeared into the night.
Their only slip-up, perhaps, was walking in front of a surveillance camera of a neighboring restaurant that shows several men walking through the alleyway behind the bank at around 3 a.m. Monday, placing down a stool and climbing onto the roof.
Aside from the floor cluttered with rejected baubles, the thieves also left behind thousands of panicked customers – many who lined up outside the branch before it opened yesterday.
Some of the lucky ones whose boxes were spared emptied them out for fear of a repeat strike.
A few never had that chance.
“Unfortunately, my family got hit hard. I had a box, my brother had a box. Both were stolen. What are the odds?” said a 53-year-old unemployed jeweler who revealed only his first name, Gary.
“I had all this jewelry saved for my kids’ future, and it’s all gone. I feel like jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge.”
While he wouldn’t put a monetary figure on his loss, he did say his box contained jewelry, bonds and gold. He said he did not have insurance.
“Why would I insure it? Whatever you don’t feel is safe in your house, you put in the safety-deposit box. I guess it’s not so safe,” he said. “I feel shocked.”
Bank officials said those who had paid for additional insurance as part of their box-rental fee would be reimbursed after filling out an affidavit stating what they had stored there. Those who did not may also be able to file an insurance claim, but it was unclear if they would be able to recover anything.
“It’s possible,” said bank spokesman Brian Edwards. “Our goal is to work with our customers as quickly as possible.”