A quiet Wednesday afternoon for two employees at a Sunnyvale jewelry store was interrupted after a group of about 20 people broke into the store, smashing almost every display case and running out with armfuls of jewelry in about two minutes, as shown in video released by police.
Authorities said they were looking into whether the attack was connected to a similar robbery at another Sunnyvale jewelry store in May.
Police responded to a report of a burglary at PNG Jewelers, 791 E. El Camino Real, at 1:27 p.m., according to a Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety news release. Around 20 people broke into the store’s secured front door, smashing display cases and grabbing merchandise; the group was gone in about two minutes and 15 seconds.
The store surveillance video, released by police Friday, shows two employees sitting in the store’s front area; no customers are visible. The workers are both startled by a noise; they turn to see a disturbance at the front doors, then quickly flee behind doors inside the store.
Within 20 seconds, several people in mostly black clothing smash their way through two sets of glass doors and enter the store.
One by one, nearly 20 people pass through the ruined doors, moving quickly to the store’s many display cases. They swing hammers and other tools, breaking the glass and reaching in to retrieve handfuls of necklaces, bracelets and rings. Most stuff the jewelry into backpacks or other bags they carry as they loot the store.
The suspects trickle out of the store, leaving nearly every display case plundered. One last robber remains 10 seconds after the rest have gone, smashing up one last glass case and taking more jewelry.
Some 10 seconds after the last person leaves, an employee emerges from behind one of the internal doors, gasping as she surveys the room and sees the extent of the damage and loss.
No one was hurt in the robbery. Police have not yet estimated the amount of damage or merchandise taken.
Sunnyvale police stated that the suspects left the scene in multiple vehicles. Officers located two of the fleeing vehicles and pursued them as they drove out of Sunnyvale toward the Peninsula.
Authorities eventually lost pursuit of one vehicle, but found another; they arrested five suspects after they attempted to flee by running across Highway 101.
The suspects also threw some of the stolen jewelry out from the one of the vehicles while they were fleeing, police said.
Five people were arrested and booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of numerous offenses, including armed robbery, felony vehicle evasion, resisting arrest and vandalism.
Steve Chang, a goldsmith and jeweler at Goldfields Jewelers in Sunnyvale, said he is trying to be more careful after hearing about the robberies at PNG Jewelers and Nitin Jewelers, another local jewelry store that was robbed in May. He said usually keeps the door locked at all times and requires customers to ring the doorbell to enter. He said he also tries to let only a few people into the store at a time, making eye contact with each one. If anyone comes in with a mask, he said he asked to see their face before entering.
Despite taking these precautionary steps, he also said, “The rest is up in the air. You just hope that nobody does anything to you.”
Sunnyvale police Capt. Dzanh Le said that the department is aware of the other group smash-and-grab robbery at Nitin Jewelers.
Le said the authorities are “looking into whether or not the two robberies are connected,” as both involved a large group of individuals entering the store en masse and breaking the display cases. They were also working with regional partners to figure out if there’s any connection between either of the Sunnyvale cases and other robberies in the region.
Le also said that business owners should remain vigilant of their safety and to comply with suspects if they are robbed.
“No piece of property is worth your life,” Le said.