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Nine Smash and Grab Robbers Attack Mall Jewelry Store November 19, 2021 (0 comments)
Concord, CA--At 7:00 p.m. nine masked suspects entered a mall retail jewelry store armed with hammers and began smashing showcases. When employees tried to intervene, they were kept back by the hammer wielding robbers. Shoppers in the mall mistook the sound of smashing glass to be gunshots, although no shots were fired.
There is a pattern of smash and grab robberies at California malls being carried out by between 3 to 7 suspects, including earlier this year in Hayward on 05/21/21 and Milpitas on 05/20/21; Daly City on 09/15/21 and San Jose on 10/28/21 and 10/29/21. Image Credit: JSA
If you have information, contact JSA at212-687-0328 or jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING SMASH AND GRAB ROBBERIES:
1. Do not resist in a smash and grab robbery. In addition to sledgehammers and other dangerous tools, the suspect(s) may be armed with guns.
2. Showcases with burglary-resistant, laminated glass on the front and sides, and special frames, can withstand many blows with a hammer and can prevent or reduce large losses. JSA has not seen robbers take retaliatory action when laminated glass is used and robbers are unable to enter a showcase or are able to take only a small amount of merchandise from a small hole. Furthermore, robbers frequently cut themselves on small holes and leave behind valuable DNA evidence from blood.
3. Having an audible glass breakage alarm on your showcases can scare smash and grab robbers away, who are trying to remain in a target store for less than a minute.
4. Having buzzers on the door can help to keep out potential robbers.
5. Hiring armed, off-duty police officers in the store is a deterrent to smash and grab robbers.
6. Spreading high end watch and loose diamond merchandise among several showcases, and not concentrated in one showcase, can reduce the amount of the loss in a smash and grab robbery.
7. Surveillance photos from eye-level cameras inside and outside the store provide excellent evidence for police. Ceiling cameras too often capture useless photos of the top of heads or hats.
8. Keeping a log book of suspicious incidents, and putting aside and saving surveillance video of suspicious incidents, can be a great help in subsequent investigations.
9. Sharing information and photos among local jewelers and police, and with JSA, regarding casings and suspects can help prevent crime and assist with investigations.