$300k in dog jewelry stolen outside Parker Starbucks

PARKER - A jeweler from Kansas was robbed of about $300,000 in gems for dog jewelry by armed men wearing ski masks outside a Starbucks, police said.

The armed robbery happened at about 8:30 a.m. Monday in a strip-mall parking lot near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and South Parker Road, said Elise Penington, a Parker police spokeswoman.

The jeweler, a 64-year-old man from Kansas, stopped at a Starbucks for a beverage, and when he went back to his vehicle, he was held up by three masked men, one brandishing a gun, Penington said.

The victim, who is in the Denver area on business, went back into the coffee shop after the robbery, and police were called.

The robbers got away with three "tubs" of stones and the victim's briefcase, which was packed with a gun, Penington said.

Police say the jewelry was for dogs.

The victim was not harmed, and the robbers fled. They remain at large.

Police did not have detailed descriptions on the robbers or a vehicle they may have fled in.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Parker police at 303-841-9800.