Montco jewelry store owner foils $250K heist, shoots would-be burglar who broke in through a wall

A Montgomery County jewelry store owner thwarted a $250,000 heist on Wednesday when he shot a would-be thief who broke into his shop by cutting through walls, then drilled into a safe to steal gems, authorities said.

Scott Kelly told police he walked into his store, Jems Jewels and Gold in North Wales, early Wednesday morning to find people wearing masks attempting to steal jewels. He got into a scuffle with a man — later identified as Timothy Overman — who was carrying a black canvas bag stuffed with jewelry, and shot him in the right arm during the struggle, police said.

Overman, 40, of Poland, Ohio was charged with burglary and related crimes and held on a $1 million bail.

Kelly was not charged.

Horsham Township Police responded to a report of burglary and shots fired at the store on the 1400 block of Bethlehem Pike shortly before 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the criminal complaint filed against Overman.

Police discovered that Overman and at least one other person had broken into a Massage Envy two doors down from the jewelry store, then broke through a wall that business shared with a Waxing the City location and tore through another wall to gain access to the jewelry store.

There, police said, Overman and his accomplice cut a hole in a safe using a jack hammer and a grinder with a cutting wheel. They also used crowbars and a sledge hammer to break into glass jewelry display cases, police said.

Surveillance video shows them stuffing a black canvas bag with jewels that the store owner said were worth $250,000, according to the criminal complaint.

A second suspect left the store through a back door moments before Overman and Kelly got into a struggle and has not been apprehended, said Horsham Township Police Lt. Larry Bozzomo. The investigation is continuing, he said.