SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Diya TV) — In a brazen daylight robbery, 20 people ransacked PNG Jewelers in Sunnyvale, California. Police say they smashed display cases with hammers before fleeing with an undetermined amount of jewelry. This was the latest in a string of Bay Area robberies over the last month targeting Indian themed jewelry stores.
Two PNG employees say they heard a loud noise, so they fled to a back room. That’s when police say in about two minutes and fifteen seconds, 20 suspects came into the store, smashed display cases, and took off with backpacks and fistfulls of jewelry.
Police say the suspects fled in two vehicles, and officers pursued them on Highway 101 toward the Peninsula. Authorities lost sight of one of the vehicles, but located the other abandoned on the side of the highway.
According to the Sunnyvale Police, five of the suspects were found and arrested near Whipple Avenue in Redwood City.
The suspects, identified as Tonga Latu, Tavake Esafe, Ofa Ahomana, Kilifi Leaaetoa and Afuhia Lavakeiaho, were booked into Santa Clara County Jail and face various charges, including armed robbery, felony vehicle evasion, resisting arrest, burglary and vandalism.
Police say no one was injured during or after the robbery and they are still determining the amount of damage to the property and what merchandise was taken. Some of the stolen jewelry was recovered by police, but the total value taken is unknown.
Another Sunnyvale jewelry store was robbed in May, which also involved multiple suspects. Investigators are working to see if there’s a link between the cases.
