Stolen SUV rams into California store in $1 million jewelry heist; suspects crash in getaway cars

Thieves rammed a stolen SUV into an Anaheim Hills store on Friday afternoon, stealing roughly $1 million worth of jewelry, authorities said.

After the chaotic heist, the suspects got into two separate car crashes, police said. All eight suspects, including a minor, were later taken into custody.

The suspects drove a stolen black Nissan Rogue through the front of the Classic Jewelers store at 5753 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road on Friday, Jan. 23 around 2:30 p.m., Anaheim police Sgt. Eric Anderson said.

When the SUV came bursting into the store, the owner said, he thought the driver was having a medical emergency, or had accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Then he realized what was happening.

Masked thieves jumped out and used trash cans, crowbars and hammers to smash every showcase, Ramzy Tabello, the owner, told freelance news videographer OC Hawk.

“I yelled, I have a gun, get out,” Tabello said. “They grabbed the gun from the table. At that point, I thought I was gonna get shot.”

It was, he said, “the scariest thing in my life.”

The thieves, he said, “smashed every showcase. They took everything within a matter of a minute.”

After snatching the jewelry, the suspects abandoned the SUV at the scene and fled in two Dodge Chargers, one silver and the other gray. An employee ran out and filmed the getaway cars to capture license plates, Tabello said.

An Anaheim police officer saw a vehicle matching the description of one of the cars near East Street on the 91 Freeway. The officer followed the car as it made an exit on Lemon Street and continued northbound. As the vehicle approached Orangethorpe Avenue, it crashed into at least two other vehicles, Anderson said.

The driver of the suspected getaway car tried to run away but was immediately detained. The vehicle’s three passengers were located after a search of the area and taken into custody.

A short time later, police officers in a helicopter located the second getaway vehicle near the intersection of Harbor and Brea boulevards in Fullerton. After requesting assistance from the Fullerton Police Department, the officers in the helicopter witnessed the second suspected getaway car crash into at least two other vehicles near the intersection of Euclid Street and Malvern Avenue.

Officers arrived shortly thereafter and detained two suspects from the second vehicle.

A firearm located at the scene of the second crash was recovered, though authorities have not confirmed whether it’s the gun that was stolen from the jewelry store. Some jewelry was recovered at both crash sites.

Two other suspects were later located hiding behind nearby residences and detained.

In all, eight suspects were apprehended, ranging in age from 17 to 24, from Inglewood, Compton and Los Angeles. The adults were arrested and booked on suspicion of multiple felonies. The minor was released to a guardian pending further investigation.

Uninvolved motorists from both car collision scenes were taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

No one at the jewelry store was injured, Tabello said.