FBI: Super Bowl ring thieves strike again

BOSTON -- A team of thieves who allegedly stole Super Bowl rings intended for the New York Giants may have struck again, the FBI said Wednesday.

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Federal investigators said there may be a link between the 2008 robbery in Attleboro, Mass., with the theft of cash and coins from a Brinks, Inc. facility in Columbus, Ohio in January. In both cases, the thieves got into the buildings by cutting a hole through the roof.

The Super Bowl rings were slated to be sent to New York Giants team members -- including quarterback Eli Manning -- last year.

The rings were stolen from the E.A. Dion jewelry manufacturing company. The white gold rings set with diamonds were designed by Tiffany and Co. and valued at $25,000 each.

Thieves disabled the alarm system at the factory, cut a hole in the roof and made off with a safe that weighed at least 1,000 pounds, Attleboro police Capt. David Proia said. The safe contained gold, gems and the rings.

The safe, found cut into eight pieces and buried in the back yard of a Hubbardston, Mass., home, was discovered in April.

While the rings were eventually recovered in a safe deposit box in a Saugus, Mass., bank and five people were arrested in connection with the thefts, the FBI said the Brinks robbery bears a remarkable similarity. Most of those charged in the Attleboro theft were accused of receiving stolen property.

In the Brinks robbery, the thieves used a cutting torch to gain access to the cash vault.

"The use of the torch resulted in a fire that apparently hampered their efforts," the FBI said. "Although some cash was removed, the thieves were then able to enter a coin room where they removed a significant amount of Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea, and presidential $1 coins."

The FBI believes this truck may have some connection to the Ohio robbery. The cash and approximately 8,000 pounds of coin were then loaded onto a vehicle and driven away.

"The FBI now believes that these two incidents may be related," the bureau said.

The bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves.

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