A quiet Wednesday afternoon for 2 employees at a Sunnyvale jewelry store was interrupted when a bunch of about 20 people broke into the shop, smashed nearly the entire windows and left inside about two minutes with armfuls of knickknack, in accordance with a video released by police.
Authorities said they were investigating whether the attack was connected to an analogous robbery at one other jewelry store in Sunnyvale in May.
According to a news release from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, police responded to a burglary at PNG Jewelers, 791 E. El Camino Real, at 1:27 p.m. About 20 people broke through the shop's secured front door, smashed display cases and stole merchandise. The group left after about two minutes and 15 seconds.
Surveillance video of the shop, released by police on Friday, shows two employees sitting within the front area of the shop, with no customers in sight. The employees are each startled by a noise; they turn around, see a disturbance on the front door, after which quickly flee behind the doors contained in the store.
Within 20 seconds, several people dressed mostly in black break through two glass doors and enter the shop.
One by one, nearly 20 people go through the shattered doors and rush to the shop's many display cases. Wielding hammers and other tools, they smash the glass and reach in to tug out a handful of necklaces, bracelets and rings. Most stuff the jewellery into backpacks or other bags they carry with them as they loot the shop.
The suspects regularly leave the shop and loot almost every display case. A final robber stays behind 10 seconds after the others have left, smashes a final glass display case and takes more jewelry.
About ten seconds after the last person leaves the room, an worker emerges from behind certainly one of the inside doors. She gasps as she surveys the room and realizes the extent of the damage and loss.
No one was injured within the robbery. The police haven’t yet estimated the damage or the stolen goods.
Sunnyvale police said the suspects left the scene in multiple vehicles. Officers positioned two of the fleeing vehicles and pursued them as they drove out of Sunnyvale toward the Peninsula.
Authorities eventually lost pursuit of 1 vehicle but found one other; they arrested five suspects after they attempted to flee by running across Highway 101.
As they fled, the suspects also threw among the stolen jewelry out of certainly one of the vehicles, police said.
Five people were arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on quite a few charges, including armed robbery, illegal operation of a motorcar, resisting arrest and vandalism.
Le said authorities are “looking into whether or not the two robberies are related,” since in each cases a big group of individuals entered the shop in large numbers and smashed the display cases. They are also working with regional partners to find out if there’s a connection between the Sunnyvale cases and other robberies in the realm.
Le also said that business owners should listen to their safety and pursue suspects in case of a robbery.
“No piece of property is worth your life,” Le said.
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