Security images show Crabtree smash-and-grab

Witnesses told police that three men with a sledgehammer smashed a jewelry case and ran off with more than a dozen Rolex watches from Sidney Thomas Jewelers just after 3 p.m.

"They were literally in and out, 10 seconds or less," a store employee told a police dispatcher, according to a recording of the 911 call released Tuesday. "They reached in quick as they could and took off. Grabbed what they could."

The hammer was left on the floor of the store.

"They just ran off at a full tilt," the caller said.

The thieves fled through the men's section of a nearby Belk's store, knocking down one woman as they fled, the caller said. They also dropped some of the watches during their getaway, the caller said, noting mall shoppers had returned some of the merchandise to the store.

A female employee was unable to give a detailed description of the thieves, saying she was too upset.

"I'm a mother. I don't want to die," she told the dispatcher.

A second employee described the thieves as three black men ages 20 to 30, wearing gray or brown hooded sweatshirts and jeans. One of the men appears to have a mustache in security footage.

Witnesses said the thieves drove off in a gold 2000 Dodge Intrepid that was stolen earlier in the day. The car was found abandoned a short distance from the mall.

Police ask that anyone who can identify the men in the security images or who has information about the robbery call Raleigh Crime Stoppers at 919-834-HELP.