The Region : Phony Doctor Steals Gems

A thief posing as a doctor stole two diamonds worth about $50,000 from a jewelry store in Cerritos by switching fake stones for the real ones, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Adams said. The suspect, with a stethoscope sticking out of his pocket, entered Slavick’s Jewelers in the Los Cerritos Mall, told store employees he was a doctor and asked to look at several loose diamonds, Adams said. He then inconspicuously exchanged the phony stones for the real gems and left the store before the switch was noticed. The store manager told sheriff’s deputies similar heists were pulled at Slavick’s stores in Pasadena and Los Angeles by a man who identified himself as a doctor.