Surveillance cameras captured three smash-and-grab suspects storming into a Newport Beach jewelry store and getting away with an estimated $260,000 worth of high-end watches last week.
The robbery at Jewelers on Time, located in the 100 block of Riverside Avenue, happened on Sept. 8 at around 4 p.m., according to a store employee.
Surveillance footage shows three masked suspects in black clothing rush into the jewelry store as man inside the store, who was wearing a yellow shirt, appeared to be holding the security gate open. One of the thieves uses a hammer to shatter the glass display cases while the other two suspects begin snatching trays of watches and putting them in bags.
Two of the masked suspects then turn toward the door, which was still being held open by the man in a yellow shirt. As they exit the store, one of the suspects pulls the man holding the door out with them with third masked suspect following. As the four men get outside, they all flee in the same direction.
It is unclear if the man wearing the yellow shirt is a suspect in the robbery.
Businesses across Southern California, both big and small, have been dealing with a growing number of smash-and-grab robberies.
Just this week in Northridge, three businesses, including a Macy’s in the Northridge Mall, were hit by smash-and-grab thieves. Both incidents were caught on cameras.
Earlier this month, in something of a twist, video captured a would-be smash-and-grab thief as he sprayed bear repellent in the face of a 70-year-old man in El Monte and attempted to rob a family-owned jewelry store.
The store’s employees fought off that suspect, identified as 36-year-old Joshua Lee Simmons, who ended up running out of the store shirtless, empty-handed and pulling up his pants.
KTLA has reached out to the Newport Beach Police Department for comment on the robbery at Jewelers On Time.
