anaheim

Anaheim, CA- Jewelry store owner scares off mob of thieves by firing warning shot.

by Armed RobberyCrime SuspectsCrime VideosCrimesJewelry Store BurglarySmash and Grab

Anaheim, CA- The attempted robbery happened at Al-Amira Jewelry on July 17. The owner told FOX 11 that it was close to closing time, when five cars pulled up to the front of the store.

Security camera footage showed about 20 people piling out of the cars and mobbing the store’s entrance. Some of them had sledgehammers and pickaxes and started smashing the door.

Seconds later, though, the group scattered, got back into their cars, and they all drove off.

Video from inside the store showed the other angle. When the people inside saw the thieves, they ran behind the counter. Several came back out to the front, armed. That’s when the owner fired one shot.

What they’re saying: The store’s owner said he thinks the group was watching the store. He said the group moved in just several minutes after one of the last customers left the store.

The owner said he heard a loud noise, and when he looked at the door, he saw “many people. I can’t count it.”

“Then I have to defend myself and my store and my employees. I take my gun, I shoot one bullet, I scare him (the person at the door), he moved and the problem is done,” the owner said.

The owner said that some of his family members were in the store when the group rushed the door.

“Every single one of them was covered in black, head to toe,” said Mohammad Abuershaid, an attorney for the jewelry store.

“Everybody should be vigilant and careful,” said Mohammed Kahn, a customer. “If they notice anything suspicious, they should speak up and report, so everyone is safe.”

For 30 years, Mahmud Salem has owned Sahara Falafel, a popular restaurant near Al-Amira Jewelry. He says he has never seen anything like this here before.

“It was like a movie,” said Salem. “It’s so sad. People are hungry and looking for bigger stuff [to steal].”

The owner’s lawyer told FOX 11 that the store has had one similar incident before, but the thieves couldn’t get into the store then either.About a month ago, another jewelry store across the street was also targeted by thieves. In that case, crooks drove a vehicle through the front of Besan Jewelry. The robbers then took jewelry estimated to be worth more than $3 million.

If you have any information regarding this incident or information on these criminals, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Article provided by FOX 11 News Los Angeles. Click HERE to view video.

Burglary

Canoga Park, CA- Roof top Burglars take off with $400,000 worth of jewelry in Canoga Park theft caught on video.

by BurglaryCrime NewsDaily BlogJewelry Store Burglary

Canoga Park, CA– A group of burglars were caught breaking into a Canoga Park jewelry store, reportedly getting away with $400,000 worth of jewelry.

It happened Thursday at a store along Sherman Way. The owner said the burglars got in through the roof and ripped out the wires to his security system so it wouldn’t go off.

Surveillance video shows at least one burglar wearing a mask and hoodie eyeing a display counter. The owner said the thieves took about $400,000 worth of jewelry after they cut a hole through a safe.

“From one thing to another, you know, my life savings has literally been wiped out,” said the owner. “So now it’s just starting back from zero and slowly trying to build up what we have to build … I don’t even know if I feel safe anymore.” The owner said he was only partly covered by insurance.

Article provided by KABC News- LA. Click HERE to view article.

If you have any information regarding this incident or information on these criminals, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

safe1

Los Angeles, CA- Burglars cut through roof of El Monte jewelry store, steal $1.5 million in gold and diamonds, owners say

by BurglaryCrime SuspectsJewelry Store BurglarySafes and Vaults

Los Angeles, CA- The owners of an El Monte jewelry store say that a group of burglars stole more than a million in gold and diamonds from their business overnight.

Instead of selling jewelry as planned on Sunday, Rosanna Meza and her family are now sifting through the aftermath of the burglary.

“It was our life … and our dreams,” Meza said. “They took everything from us.”

She says that the crew cut through the roof of their store, Meza’s Jewelry on Main Street, using power tools to crack open their safes before taking off with more than $1.5 million in product, including diamond rings and solid gold chains.

“My brother called me, I was at my house still, and he called me and when he told me … everything went blank,” Meza said.

The crew also cut off the store’s security alarms, taking them with them when they fled from the store. She says that it’s not the first time they were targeted by burglars, referencing a 2023 smash-and-grab robbery in which store employees fought back against a suspect.

This time though, she said things were different.

“These were professionals,” she said. “They cut the internet, the security alarm, the cameras. We don’t have anything.”

This is the latest in a series of complex burglaries at Los Angeles County jewelry stores.

Earlier in June, a crew used a blowtorch to cut through the wall of Encino Jewelry Mart, where five different jewelers work. In May, two different groups burglarized stores in Glendale and Simi Valley by cutting through the roof to gain entry.

Meza said that they have filed a report with the El Monte Police Department, but they’re unsure when they can reopen as they work to repair the damage and count their losses.

To view the article provided by CBS news, click here.

If you have any information regarding this incident or information on these criminals, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

la

LOS ANGELES, CA- Millions in merchandise taken by burglars who tunneled through concrete into LA jewelry store.

by BurglaryCrime SuspectsCrimesDaily BlogJewelry Store Burglary

LOS ANGELES, CA– Burglars tunneled through a concrete wall to gain access to a Los Angeles jewelry store, making off with at least $10 million worth of watches, pendants, gold chains and other merchandise, police said. The heist happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Love Jewels on Broadway in the heart of downtown’s jewelry district, according to Officer David Cuellar with the LA Police Department.

Investigators were reviewing security camera footage that shows the suspects entering the store from a large hole they drilled from the property next door, he said. “They tunneled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” Cuellar said Tuesday. An unknown number of suspects fled through the same hole and drove off in a late model Chevy truck, he said. The heist wasn’t discovered until store employees arrived for work Monday morning.

Initial estimates are that $10 million worth of merchandise was stolen, Cuellar said, adding that the number could change. The owner told The Associated Press the loss was around $20 million, and that they did not have insurance. No alarms went off and the feed to their in-store security cameras were cut. At the store on Tuesday, workers covered up the hole in the wall with a metal plate, repaired other damage and cleaned up overturned display cases and discarded boxes. Two large safes were broken into, containing all the merchandise they had in the store. Customers and friends stopped by to offer sympathy, with some even asking to purchase items.

Love Jewels’ website advertises items like a 14-karat yellow gold rope chain for $1,200, heart-shaped gold earrings for $200 and a gold cross pendant for $550. Videos on the store’s social media shows glass cases filled with rings, watches and necklaces. Detectives examined the scene for fingerprints and DNA, police said.

If you have any information regarding this incident or information on these suspects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Article provided by MSN News, click HERE to view article.

ft myers

FT. Meyers, FL- 5 suspects in attempted burglary at Fort Myers jewelry store.

by BurglaryCrime NewsCrime SuspectsCrimesJewelry Store Burglary

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Greg Cerio is looking for the suspects responsible for attempting to steal from his store Cerio’s Jewelry in Fort Myers on Cleveland and Colonial.

“It makes me sad. I just I’d like to see them get caught in, you know, get what they deserve,” said store owner Greg Cerio. Five determined burglars can be seen on a video
trying to smash the front door and rip their way into the store.

“It’s still a hit. But, you know, it could have been much worse,” said Cerio. This time, though, they couldn’t get in thanks to the bulletproof doors. The video then shows them running away.

“You’ll see in the video something spooked them, and they all started running really quickly around the building. We do have cameras all the way around the building. So, we caught all of that. And they ran over to this parking lot over here,” said Cerio.

While Greg is grateful the suspects didn’t get inside, he says the damage to the door and window can cost thousands of dollars to repair. “You know, I’d be afraid of what they could do, you know, just smashing things and, you know, could have been much more expensive than it was,” said Cerio.

The five suspects are masked, but Greg believes they are the same suspects behind the other break-ins in the area. “The police told me that these five guys have done this before to other businesses and got away with it and did much. You know, they actually got inside and took, you know, a lot of things. So, you know, here they didn’t but I know other places they did,” said Cerio.

Greg is asking anyone with information on the suspects to come forward and call FMPD. “I know a lot of other store owners. They’re shocked …. They’re really nervous talking about sleeping in their stores at night. It really just it sends a really bad message,” said Cerio.

If you have any information regarding this incident or information on these suspects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.

Article provided by Madison Zaleski of ABC Gulf Coast news, click here to view article and video.

warrant

Aspen, Colorado- Four men arrested for Aspen jewelry store burglary

by ArrestsCrime NewsCrime SuspectsCrimesJewelry Store Burglary

Aspen, Colorado- November 12, 2024- Multiple suspects allegedly tunneled through the wall of the Forré Fine Art gallery to the Avi & Co. jewelry store between late Sunday night and early Monday morning. The Aspen Police Department arrested four men Tuesday for allegedly burglarizing Avi & Co. jewelry between late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

The men, who allegedly tunneled through two walls of adjacent businesses to get into the jewelry store, were arrested in Vail by Aspen Police, according to an Aspen Police Department news release. They were taken to the Pitkin County Jail.

Two of the men arrested, a 34 year old from Peru and a 41 year old from Buenos Aires, received felony charges of second-degree burglary. The other two men arrested, a 35 year old and a 43 year old, both from Chile, received felony charges of conspiracy to commit burglary.

“Kudos to our guys. They did some brilliant, brillant police work, honestly,” Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn said. “Some of the officers were so dang creative in recognizing what was going on.”

Nothing of value was taken from the jewelry store, or the two adjacent businesses through which the burglars entered, according to business employees. The suspects did not successfully open the vault.

The suspects didn’t have to break a door or window to enter the building complex in Hunter Plaza, where a number of businesses are connected wall to wall including the jewelry store, according to Wayan Owner Raphael Derly.

They first entered through the front door of Wayan, an Indonesian restaurant set for a grand opening in December, Derly said. Currently under construction, the restaurant takes the place of the former Local Coffee.

Derly said he left Sunday evening, locking both doors to the front of the business. One door is opened by a code, the other by a key. Neither doors were damaged when the burglars broke into the space.

Once in, the suspects tunneled through the wall of the restaurant and the wall of Forré Fine Art gallery into the back office of the jewelry store, using an arsenal of tools, including saws, settling torches, crowbars, gas tanks, and a ladder, among other items to aid them in their alleged burglary.

The suspects tunneled from where they first entered the building complex in Wayan, an Indonesian restaurant scheduled to open in December, to Forré Fine Art, a contemporary art gallery, so they could get to the wall separating the gallery and the jewelry shop. Larry White/Courtesy Photo

An Avi & Co. employee who elected to remain anonymous said it seemed as though they were after the contents of the jewelry store vault.

“I just definitely think it was about jewelry and watches,” the employee said. “(It’s) just weird, to not take anything else, if they were just trying to get anything valuable.”

Some watches sold in the jewelry store are valued at $400,000, according to the employee.

They didn’t take any computers, art or alcohol from the other two businesses, all of which were accessible to the suspects, the employee said.

Some of the art in the Forré is valued at over $1 million, Forré Manager Larry White said.

On Sunday at 4 p.m., the afternoon before the burglary, White said he had an uneasy feeling about three men who had entered the gallery.

When he left the gallery later that afternoon he bumped into an Aspen police officer on the street, who he told about his suspicions. White said the police officer passed the information along to the department.

Based on camera footage from the store, the suspects entered the businesses around 9:30 p.m., and came and went three separate times throughout the night, the jewelry store employee said. They cut the alarm when they first entered, the employee added.

Officers arrived on scene late Sunday evening after they were notified about a triggered alarm in the jewelry shop, but left the business after they discovered nothing, according to the press release.

“We do have security, and the door is locked, so it’s not like (the police) could just come in the store,” the employee said. The vault is not visible from the outside of the jewelry shop.

The employee said the suspects returned a couple hours later to scope out the shop, before leaving once more. She said they returned a final time around 1:30 a.m. “And then that’s when they came back, and they covered the cameras, like spray painted the cameras,” the employee said.

Additionally, the suspects had placed large white foam panels in front of the gallery windows, to block most of the view from outside, said White. The officers were summoned once more by a jewelry store alarm around 1:30 a.m., according to the press release. Linn said the officers noticed a discrepancy in the site upon their return because a ladder inside the gallery had been moved. “Honestly, to respond to a burglar alarm is not an uncommon thing,” Linn said. “But to actually recognize that there was more going on here than just the average burglar alarm? They were just very sharp, on top of it.”

The suspects had fled by the time the officers entered the jewelry shop, according to the release. Officers later identified the suspects and their vehicles using modern policing technology and video surveillance recordings, according to the release. They sent out a statewide notification about the suspects, who were approached by Vail police, and arrested in Vail by Aspen police, before being brought to the Pitkin County Jail, according to the release.

While burglaries are uncommon in Aspen, Linn said high-end businesses could be at greater risk. “With high value businesses, I suppose (it) creates the sense that people might be able to make a bigger score or something,” he said.

Linn said it’s important for businesses with high value products to have a good video security system and an alarm system that notifies the police when triggered. A trial date for the men has not yet been scheduled. “The City of Aspen emphasizes the fundamental principle that every person accused of a crime is presumed to be innocent unless and until his or her guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” Linn said in the release.

Article provided by Skyler Stark-Ragsdale of the Aspen times, which can be viewed by clicking here.