Police: Two more suspects arrested after $1M Yuba City jewelry store heist
Two more people were arrested after allegedly stealing about $1 million in gold jewelry in the January smash-and-grab robbery of a Yuba City jewelry store, police said.
Yuba City police said in a social media update that Michael Sanders, 24, and Kylen Byrd, 21, were identified “through continued follow-up and collaboration with multiple Bay Area law enforcement agencies” and were being held at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, awaiting transfer to Sutter County.
Police said three masked thieves rushed the store in the 400 block of Palora Avenue just after 1 p.m. Jan. 18, smashing display cases and scooping up gold while a fourth suspect waited outside in a getaway car. One of the suspects struck the store’s owner in the chest with a hammer during the daytime heist. The owner suffered minor injuries, police said, and later told officers the robbers’ haul was worth about $1 million.
A witness followed the getaway car while calling in updates to dispatchers. Yuba City police later found the car abandoned a short distance away near Richland and Estates roads.
The four suspects fled, but two — later identified as Maurice Lee Jackson, 32, of Oakland, and a juvenile — were quickly captured in a nearby backyard with the help of an overhead drone, police said. Officers also found jewelry inside the abandoned vehicle. Authorities later learned the car had been reported stolen from Oakland earlier that day.
Jackson was being held at Sutter County Jail in Yuba City on suspicion of robbery and assault. The minor was being held at the Tri-County Youth Development Center in Marysville, Yuba County.
The investigation into the January heist remained ongoing. Anyone with information was asked to call the Yuba City Police Department at 530-822-4660 or leave an anonymous tip at 530-822-2026.
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