Headlines

Trapped: Customer Spends Night in Jewelry Vault in NYC Diamond District

The man was accessing his safety deposit box when the door, which was on a timer, locked him in the metal room.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2023

INSTORE Staff

A man spent the night trapped in a jewelry vault in the Diamond District of Midtown Manhattan.

The customer was accessing his safety deposit box when the door, which was on a timer, locked him in the metal room, the New York Post reported. He was able to walk out 10 hours later, when the door automatically unlocked.

The incident happened at 580 Fifth Ave., which houses a variety of jewelry businesses.

Authorities worked all night trying to get the 23-year-old man free from the DGA Securities vault, which measures 40 feet by 20 feet. They were able to maintain cellphone contact with him at all times.

The New York City police and fire departments cut through about 30 inches of concrete in the rescue operation. But then they hit metal plating.

ABC News reported that rescue personnel then waited because they didn’t want to “unnecessarily spew smoke and fumes into the small space.”

At about 6:15 a.m., the door unlocked and the customer left. He was reportedly fine.

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Why This Jeweler Chose Wilkerson

Mark Lauer is the owner of Mark Michael Diamond Designs, the Minnesota-based jewelry gallery known for exceptional and uniquely designed diamond jewelry. Though he loved creating the beautiful jewelry his business was known for, retirement was an exciting alternative to the 60+ hours a week he’d spent building it up. He called Wilkerson to help with a retirement sale. “I did talk to two other companies, but I just didn’t feel they offered the same services that Wilkerson did,” he says. “I knew Wilkerson had the expertise to follow through and give me the service and results that I wanted. They’re the number one rock stars in this industry.”