Sacramento County million-dollar jewelry store heist leads to arrests in Lodi
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- Detectives linked Sept. 13 million-dollar jewelry store burglary to organzed crew.
- Surveillance tracked four suspects casing Sacramento, Stockton, Lodi and Bay Area stores.
- Detectives on nearby surveillance thwarted heist at Lodi jewelry store.
A burglary in which more than $1 million worth of jewelry was stolen from a Sacramento County store last month led detectives to arrest four suspects caught while breaking into a San Joaquin County jewelry store, sheriff’s officials said.
The detectives had identified four suspects in the Sept. 13 million-dollar jewelry store heist, where a crew of thieves had drilled through concrete to break into the store, according to a news release from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said on Friday that investigators were not releasing the location or name of the Sacramento County jewelry store burglarized last month.
Sheriff’s officials said detectives investigated what appeared to be a “highly sophisticated operation” that committed the jewelry store burglary and identified four suspects, three men and a woman believed to be from Colombia.
The detectives conducted extensive surveillance this past week and spotted the suspects casing jewelry stores throughout the region, including stores in Sacramento, Stockton, Lodi and the Bay Area, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Early Thursday, the suspects smashed through a brick wall from an adjacent building, shut off power and tried to disable the alarm system at a jewelry store in Lodi, sheriff’s officials said.
The sheriff’s detectives conducting surveillance nearby moved in with help from the sheriff’s SWAT team as the jewelry store break-in unfolded.
Sheriff’s officials said they quickly detained two suspects, while two others hid inside. One suspect crawled into an air duct.
The Sheriff’s Office used drones and less-lethal gas to take the two other suspects into custody. No jewelry was stolen from the Lodi store.
Sheriff’s officials said the suspects traveled in a RV, and used advanced tools and specialized skills to disable alarms and gain access through adjoining walls. The detectives described the group as “extremely organized, methodical and well-equipped,” according to the sheriff’s news release.
The detectives have since learned that one of the arrested suspects owns a jewelry business in Colombia, which likely has ties to organized crime, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The four suspects were booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail, where they remained in custody Friday. They were deemed ineligible for bail and are scheduled to appear for their arraignment on Monday in Sacramento Superior Court.
