Sunnyvale, Calif. (Diya TV) – A jewelry store in the heart of Silicon Valley was the latest target of a brazen smash-and-grab robbery Sunday afternoon, as a group of at least a dozen thieves crashed a stolen vehicle into the storefront and ransacked display cases in under 90 seconds.
The attack occurred at approximately 2:45 p.m. on the 1000 block of East El Camino Real, between Poplar and Henderson Avenues, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (DPS). Surveillance footage shows the suspects using a stolen vehicle to smash through the entrance of Manisha Jewelers, before swarming the store with hammers in hand and looting an undisclosed amount of merchandise.
A security video from inside the store captured the entire sequence: the vehicle crashing through the front, glass shattering, display cases being broken, and the thieves making off with jewelry in less than a minute and a half. The suspects fled in multiple waiting vehicles, abandoning the car used to breach the store’s entrance.
One individual inside the store was injured during the incident and transported to a hospital. DPS confirmed the injuries were not life-threatening. A neighbor, Sonal Kumar, who witnessed the chaos, identified the victim as the store’s owner. “He was sitting at his desk when the car backed into the store,” Kumar said, adding that he is now being treated in the ICU.
“They were fearless,” Kumar told CBS News Bay Area. “It seemed like they were not afraid of any consequences… I don’t know, as the general public, how are we supposed to react and feel safe?”
Responding officers later located one of the fleeing vehicles and attempted a traffic stop, but the suspect driver fled, prompting a short police chase that was eventually called off in the interest of public safety.
This latest incident follows a string of similar crimes in the region. On March 30, a different Sunnyvale jewelry store—less than a mile away—was also targeted by a group of thieves using a stolen car. In that case, a store employee confronted the suspects with a firearm, and they fled empty-handed. On June 20, a Dublin jewelry store was attacked in the same fashion, but the owners had preemptively emptied display cases after hearing of another smash-and-grab in Fremont two days earlier.
