Three armed robbers in Father Frost costumes took all gold jewelry from a pawn shop in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk in 47 seconds, a local police chief said on Thursday.
The three hoax New Year gift-givers stood outside the shop for a while, congratulating passers-by, probably carefully timing the robbery. Their behavior did not seem suspicious to the pawn shop's staff and visitors, who thought the three men were involved in an advertising campaign.
At 17:15 local time on Wednesday, the three Father Frosts burst into the shop, waving shotguns.
"The three men acted defiantly, without a moment of hesitation. They shot four times so everyone took them seriously. I need hardly say that robbing such a shop in 47 seconds requires certain skills," district police Chief Yuri Titovich said.
The owner has yet to assess the damage; however, it is known that the robbers took all gold jewelry from the shop, including at least 160 gold chains.
Police are currently checking footage from surveillance cameras in the shop. All robbers wore masks and false beards.
A similar crime took place last year in the same city. A robber dressed as Father Frost took about 5.5 million rubles but was caught and sentenced to four years behind bars.
