Boise jeweler’s store burglarized a week after he was harassed over pro-mask sign
A Boise jewelry store was broken into and thousands of dollars of personal items stolen sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday, the store’s owner said, and he believes it may be connected to recent backlash over a pro-face mask sign he posted last week.
Mike Rogers, owner of Precious Metal Arts, 280 N. 8th St. #50 in Downtown Boise, said he was drinking coffee at his home when two police cars pulled up.
“That’s never the best sign,” Rogers told the Statesman in a phone interview.
Rogers said he quickly went to his store, where he found the glass portion of his front door smashed in with a cinder block. All of his jewelry was accounted for in his safe, but numerous personal items were missing.
Haley Williams, spokesperson for the Boise Police Department, said in an email that officers responded to a report of a burglary on 8th Street around 6 a.m. Williams said police will increase patrols in the area going into the weekend and officers are checking with nearby businesses to determine whether any others were affected.
Among the stolen items was a guitar, camera equipment and sculptures. Rogers estimated about $15,000 worth of items was stolen. Several of the items, including the guitar, held much more personal value, Rogers said.
“(They took) an old family clock that has no value to anyone except for me,” he said. “I loved that clock.”
Though Williams said police have not yet determined a motive for the crime, Rogers said he believes the burglary was related to backlash he’s received after posting a sign on his front door last week requiring face masks for entry. Rogers was interviewed by the Idaho Statesman and KTVB about his sign, which read, in part, “I require masks to enter. There are no exceptions ... If you’re one of the morons protesting the mask ordinance, stay out. I will consider it to be an assault if you enter and I’ll respond accordingly.”
Rogers has since received an influx of poor reviews online and, he said Thursday, even some death threats.
He said the burglary “is a hell of a coincidence if it’s not related (to the sign backlash). It almost has to be.”
Rogers said he’s glad no one else appears to have been affected.
“I’m a good guy to take this,” he said. “I’m glad it happened to me and not anybody else.”
Shortly before noon on Thursday, Rogers said he anticipated being open for business later in the day. He said Precious Metal Arts will still be open for normal hours even if the front door is boarded over — and masks are still required.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
