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Thieves Use Forklift To Burglarize Garden Highway Jewelry Store

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A gaping hole and pile of rubble is what's left of Daniel Pheasant and his wife's livelihood for 28 years.

"I was in awe," he said Monday afternoon as he looked at the remains of his jewelry business on Garden Highway. "I thought maybe just a door or a window, but I thought a bomb went off (when he saw it)."

Now their jewelry store may crumble like the walls.

"Looks like a missile hit the building," he said.

It happened around 6 on Monday morning. Police say thieves stole a forklift from a nearby school and drove it straight through the wall.

Using a strap, they dragged out a 3,600-pound safe, placed it in another stolen truck and took off.

The truck was later found abandoned off Wind Creek Drive in north Sacramento with damage to the bed.

"It's like they didn't just want the safe, they wanted to do collateral damage," Daniel said. "It couldn't get any worse."

He said it's not so much about the money in the safe, but the irreplaceable jewelry he was still working on for his customers.

"It's precious to them and that's precious to us," he said.

Meanwhile, at this point there's no telling when the building will be safe enough to work in.

But Daniel says he's got a big deadline this weekend, his daughter's wedding.

"I'm still in the process of making her ring," he said, "which I've got to start over with because someone took it."

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