The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said in a press release that about 20 people broke into a jewelry shop on June 12 and stole a lot of jewelry in less than three minutes.
The thieves broke into 791 E. El Camino Real’s PNG Jewelers and broke almost all of the display cases. Sources say that after a two-minute and fifteen-second raid, they left with a lot of gold. The theft did not hurt anyone.
The store’s surveillance film came out on Friday, June 14. Two workers can be seen at the front of the store when they hear a noise at the front door. They then move behind different doors inside the store.
Police say that then, one by one, about 20 people come in with hammers and other tools and break the glass cases that are full of gold. They then put the pieces in their bags. Right away, they all leave the store, but one person stays behind to break the last glass case.
Then, an employee came out from cover and looked around the room. Police arrived at the scene around 1:30 p.m. local time, but they don’t know how much damage was done or how much stuff was stolen yet. Some of the gold that was stolen has also been found.
Before the police arrived, the suspects left the store in several cars. The police did find two suspect cars, though, as they tried to leave the area. The police tried to stop both cars, but they got away, which led to chases, according to the news release. After that, the police followed the cars onto Highway 101.
But when police lost sight of the first car, they stopped the chase. While the police were chasing the second car, the thieves threw the stolen jewelry from the moving car. The chase stopped when the police lost sight of the second car.
Soon after, the car was found on Highway 101 near Whipple Ave. Five suspects were inside: Tonga Latu, Tavake Esafe, Ofa Ahomana, Kilifi Leaaetoa, and Afuhia Lavakeiaho. According to the news release, they then ran away on foot. Five of the suspects were caught; the fifth was found by a service dog that the cops had.
Police say they are being held at the Santa Clara County jail on charges of armed robbery, felony car evasion, resisting arrest, burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, vandalism, possession of burglary tools, and having outstanding warrants.
According to the Mercury News, police are looking into whether the theft on Wednesday is linked to a similar theft that happened in May at Nitin Jewelers, another gold store in Sunnyvale.
Source: PEOPLE
