SAN JOSE — A group of robbers broke into three San Jose businesses at a shopping center Monday and stole jewelry before fleeing the scene, according to authorities and store owners.
The losses reached at least $60,000, according to two of the stores. The third store was still counting up its loss as of Thursday.
Police said the robbery was reported at 3:32 p.m. Monday when between eight to 10 people broke into a business in the 1600 block of Story Road and smashed jewelry cases. The people stole jewelry and fled the scene. The investigation is ongoing and authorities haven’t identified the suspects as of Thursday.
Multiple kiosks were targeted and police said it was a “takeover robbery.”
VIDEO: Surveillance footage shows thieves stealing jewelry from a San Jose shopping center. (Courtesy Eric Orozco)
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“These individuals actually forced their way into the store,” San Jose police Officer Steve Aponte told NBC Bay Area. “And by saying takeover robbery, they demanded everybody to get on the ground. They forced people who were present, including staff members, to do their will. And in doing so, they were able to take over, break the glass, take away the stuff that they wanted to take.”
Credit Jewelers, Joyeria Guerrero and Heart of Gold, located in the La Placita Tropicana shopping center at Story and King roads, were the three jewelry businesses that were targeted, according to Credit Jewelers owner Jesus Orozco. About nine men came into the center at 3:30 p.m. with sledgehammers and started breaking jewelry cases, he said.
About five or six of the people robbed Credit Jewelers, which is located at the front of the shopping center, according to Orozco.
Some of the men in the group had been spotted visiting the shopping center the week prior but a security guard had noticed them and locked the doors, Orozco said, adding that the group tried to rush the door but after realizing that it was locked, ran back to their car and fled.
“We were expecting something to happen,” he said. “All the jewelers were on edge here.”
Orozco said there is video footage of the incident and that some of his employees saw the robbery happen from the store’s office and called the police. Orozco said the business is still determining how much merchandise was taken. The business was closed on Jan. 4 and reopened on Jan. 5.
Heart of Gold owner Eric Orozco also said that one of the men in the group had come to the shopping center the previous week and scoped out the jewelry. Eric Orozco said he closed the store for a week because they thought a robbery could occur.
“We saw the news about people being robbed in San Jose and we had an idea that we were next,” he said.
The store reopened the same day it was robbed and the group had busted through some of the showcases and stolen some of the most valuable jewelry pieces, according to Eric Orozco, who said that the business lost an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in the robbery. The store reopened on Jan. 6.
“It was terrible,” he said. “I’m surprised they had the courage to come back to work today.”
Rocio Gomez, owner of Joyeria Guerrero, said her employees heard the men shout, “Get on the ground!” before they stormed through the center. Around $10,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from her business, including a few diamond rings, according to Gomez.
“They heard the men say, ‘Close the doors, get everything inside!’ And that’s when we started screaming,” she said.
