Police searching for four men who used pepper spray and a sledgehammer to rob Franklin Mills jeweler

Philadelphia Police are searching for four men they say robbed a Philadelphia Mills jewelry store in dramatic fashion Saturday evening while the mall was filled with patrons.

Investigators said the men used “highly concentrated” pepper spray on employees of the store, then smashed glass cases with a sledgehammer before making off with a haul of jewels.

According to a police account of the incident, a group of four men entered Javier the Jeweler at 7:23 p.m. Saturday. The store, which sells men’s and women’s jewelry and watches, is toward the northern end of the Philadelphia Mills mall in Northeast Philadelphia.

Police said the men dispersed pepper spray, causing employees eye and respiratory irritations, then broke open the displays before fleeing. No customers were in the store at the time of the robbery, and it was unclear Sunday how much jewelry the men took.

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Officials evacuated the mall Saturday evening, then reopened it shortly after. Medics treated several employees for minor injuries associated with the use of pepper spray.

Investigators did not release detailed descriptions of the men involved, other than saying the person who used the pepper spray was thin and wore all black with a white mask.