K. Hollis Jewelers, 2030 Main St., Batavia, reported a bold heist where nearly $16,000 in gold jewelry was believed lost to two men, according to a police report released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Two men came to the store about 4 p.m. Aug. 30 and selected thousands of dollars worth of jewelry they said was for a wedding gift, according to the report. Store staff believed the men appeared to have an accent that was Eastern European, according to a police report.

They told a store employee they were going to pay for the jewelry with a combination of cash and credit – but the credit card was declined.

They left, saying they would come back with enough cash to make the purchase, the report stated.

They even left two $100 bills as a deposit for their return.

Sixteen pieces of gold jewelry, valued at $15,673.15, were being held gift-wrapped in a box inside a K. Hollis Jewelers gift bag on the counter awaiting their return, according to the report.

The employees called police because the two men made them uncomfortable and it was getting near closing time, according to the police report.

Officers arrived, but the men didn’t return because they already had the goods.

Owner Rob Hollis said the men were not armed.

“Our employees’ safety is our priority and we are glad no one was hurt,” Hollis said.

Hollis said the employees wrapped the jewelry they chose and put it in the box. But one thief swapped out the real gold jewelry for worthless costume pieces while the other one distracted the staff.

“It’s a tactic ... to try to keep employees distracted to figure out a way to get jewelry or whatever else they’re interested in into their pocket,” Hollis said.

One showed staff cash, a driver’s license and credit card, which matched, but all were fake, Hollis said, right down to the two $100 bills left as a “deposit.”

“This is not something we see every day,” Hollis said. “It’s a robbery of distraction. They need your eyes off of them long enough to pocket the stuff.”

The store’s security cameras malfunctioned during the time the two were in the store, so nothing uploaded to the cloud, Hollis said.

“It was a bad coincidence,” Hollis said.

Hollis said they wished it had not happened, but it did.

And though a police investigation is ongoing, Hollis said he’s accepted that the thieves and the jewelry are both likely long gone.

This theft is a first, Hollis said.

“We’ve been open 20 years ... around 60,000 days and this has happened once,” Hollis said. “We operate from a place of trust. ... We trust people when they walk in. We will never become a store that has door bells and gates. We’re a small, local community store and that’s important to us.”