A robbery at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City resulted in the men leaving the Borgata with $500,000 worth of jewelry. The robbery happened at one of the Borgata Hotel's high end jewelry stores and ended in less than 30 seconds.

The robbery at the Borgata casino shopping center happened about 8:45 p.m. Monday, during Borgata Hotel and Casino's ten-year anniversary. Three men smashed jewelry displays and left in a dark-colored vehicle with no visible license plates.

The thieves benefitted from the quick robbery with the element of surprise and the speed of its execution.

"What's interesting is we're seeing a big rash of smash-and-grabs between New jersey and Atlanta on the east coast. A tremendous rash of them in that east coast region. The localities really have shifted," said John J. Kennedy, president of the Jewelers' Security Alliance, which provides crime information and assistance to the jewelry industry and law enforcement.

While smash-and-grabs have always been around, Kennedy says there seems to be a trend for thieves to prefer this type of robbery over using a gun to rob a store.

"There seems to be more instances where a large number of males go into the store and smash the case and get out of there in 20 or 30 seconds rather than point a gun at a store owner."

The Borgata was celebrating its ten-year anniversary Monday night when the robbery occurred. There was a big concert with performers such as The Roots and Aziz Ansari in the hotel's honor.

The Borgata hotel and casino opened on July 2, 2003. The Borgata currently has 11 retail stores and around 2,000 rooms and suites.