ST. GEORGE — A theft at a jewelry store brought police officers to the Promenade at Red Cliffs shopping center on Monday evening, after a man fled the area with diamonds in hand.

St. George Police officers were sent to Jonny Roxx Jewelry at the Promenade shortly after 6 p.m. to investigate the theft and interview witnesses who saw the suspect flee the scene, St. George Police Lt. Sam Despain said.

The man police are searching for walked into the store like a normal customer asking to see some diamonds and other products, Despain said. However, once the man had “several diamonds in his hand,” he fled the store.

The man ran out of the store to a waiting car and immediately left the area, the officer said. While the man and his accomplice in the waiting car left before officers arrived, Despain said they were able to get a description of both from people who had been eating in the Promenade’s nearby courtyard.

The man’s getaway car accomplish is believed to have been a woman and the estimated value of items taken is still being determined. Anticipated to be in the range of several thousand dollars, store owner Jon Parke said the man is known to have run out with at least one high-value item.

“He was a little bit on the shady side and they all felt it,” Parke said as after sharing video of the incident with St. George News. Though he was allowed to look at certain items, he said employees did not allow the man to handle anything considered “super expensive.”

In the video, a man in a gray suit and wearing sunglasses is speaking with an employee at the counter inside the store and inspecting an item before rushing outside. The employee shouts for someone to call the police as he attempts to pursue the suspect while other customers in the store appear frightening by the event.

While the loss of inventory to theft “is a big deal,” Parke said, he has more concern about the impact incidents like this can have on store employees who experience it firsthand.

“Some guy comes in and he grabs and runs and there’s a lot of commotion in the store going on and people just feel violated,” he said. “It’s traumatic.”

Security video and photos taken of the incident were shared with the police, Despain said Monday evening as he and other officers continued their onsite investigation.

Retail thefts of this sort can be unfortunately common, he said.

“We do see this happen,” Despain said. “A lot of people will go into retail stores and help themselves and try to get away with it.”

The police confirmed Tuesday that the man and the accomplish who drove him away are still at large and being searched for.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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